The 83rd meeting of the CIS Railway Transport Council was held in Baku, attended by railway administrations from Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Central Asian countries, as well as representatives from Georgia, Iran, Armenia, Latvia, Estonia, and international industry organizations. Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) CEO Rovshan Rustamov noted that transport cooperation plays a key role in the region’s economic integration, and the development of unified railway coordination strengthens the resilience of the CIS transport system.
Rustamov presented the results of large-scale projects that have strengthened Azerbaijan’s transit role: the modernization of the Baku-Boyuk Kyasik line to AC, the expansion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line’s capacity to 5 million tons per year, the renovation of the Sumgait-Yalama section of the North-South Corridor, and the construction of a terminal in Astara (Iran), expected to be completed in early 2026. He emphasized that the Baku International Seaport, integrated into ADY, has become a key hub for the Middle Corridor, where throughput capacity is planned to increase from 15 to 25 million tons per year.
Azerbaijan’s Minister of Digital Development and Transport, Rashad Nabiyev, emphasized the importance of the agreement with Russia on developing transit along the North-South Corridor and the ongoing modernization of the country’s railway infrastructure. Meeting participants discussed the performance of the CIS network for the first nine months of 2025, issues of international freight and passenger transportation, tariff policy for 2026, and the development of transport corridors. Following the meeting, a protocol was signed, and the parties emphasized the need to synchronize logistics processes and increase the transparency of transit operations.