Caucasus

During Kazakhstan’s Transport Week in Almaty, the heads of Georgian and Azerbaijani railways signed a memorandum on the launch of regular container train services linking ports on the Black and Caspian Seas. The new Batumi–Poti–Tbilisi–Absheron–Sumgait–Alat route will connect the two countries’ key sea and dry ports, including the Tbilisi Multimodal Terminal, the first phase of which was commissioned in June 2025.

Rovshan Rustamov, Chairman of the Board of Azerbaijan Railways (ADY), participated in the panel discussion “Development of Eurasian Railway Infrastructure” at the 7th International Forum “New Silk Road” in Kazakhstan. Discussions focused on the integration of the Middle Corridor, modernization of ports and railways, increasing transit potential, and technological upgrades to transport infrastructure.

At the 1st Azerbaijan International Investment Forum, held in September 2025, a World Bank representative stated that approximately $28 billion would be required to develop the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) over the next 15 years. Of this, $25 billion is planned for modernizing rail infrastructure and $1.8 billion for developing port capacity. The route’s main bottleneck remains the junction of sea and rail transport due to limited capacity and differences in infrastructure across participating countries.

During Transport Week in Almaty, Rovshan Rustamov, Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways, Lasha Abashidze, CEO of Georgian Railways, and Ufuk Yalçın, Chairman of the Board and CEO of TCDD Taşımacılık, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to organize freight transportation via the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars (BTK) railway. The document aims to increase the route’s competitiveness, attract additional freight traffic by optimizing delivery times, ensure stable transportation conditions, and implement transparent tariffs.

The latest Maersk Global Market Update notes that Chinese exports continue to drive growth in global container shipping. In the first half of 2025, China’s share of global trade reached 37%, with shipments to Latin America, Africa, and Europe growing significantly. In Latin America, China’s share increased from 27% in 2019 to 38% in 2025, in Africa from 32% to 39%, and in Europe, the share of Chinese goods in containerized imports rose to 40%. The main demand is driven by technology, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, and chemicals.

Shanxi Province has opened its first rail-road freight route to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The train departs from the Zhongding Logistics Park and travels to Kashgar North Station in Xinjiang, from where containers are transported by road through the Irkeshtam border crossing to Andijan. The first train carried solar panels.

Georgian Railway is expanding its container transportation services by launching a new block train from the ports of Batumi and Poti to Baku. The route will run along the Batumi–Poti–Tbilisi–Absheron–Sumgait–Alat corridor and will operate on a fixed schedule, linking Azerbaijan’s largest cargo terminals with Black Sea ports.

Negotiations between the management of KTZ, KTZ Express, and China Railway Container Transport (CRCT) were held at the headquarters of JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy. The Kazakh delegation was led by Deputy Chairman of the Board for Logistics E. Koishibayev, and the CRCT delegation was led by Chairman of the Board Yang Bin. Representatives of the joint venture Middle Corridor Multimodal Ltd. also participated in the discussions.

Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Transport, Maksat Kaliakparov, met with Georgia’s First Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Vakhushti Bagrationi, and Georgia’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Levan Diasamidze. The talks focused on strengthening cooperation in the transport sector.

KTZ Express organized the first container shipment of wheat flour from Kazakhstan to the United States. The product from Kostanay successfully arrived in New York and became part of a pilot project to introduce Kazakh flour under the Eurasian Legacy brand to the American market, where it is already available on Amazon and in retail chains.