Azerbaijan, Iran launch construction of bridge over Astara river

/By Azernews/

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan and Iran have held a groundbreaking ceremony for construction of a railroad bridge over the Astara River on the border of the two countries.

The ceremony was attended by Azerbaijan's Economy and Industry Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi.

The railroad bridge over the Astara River is a strategically important facility that will connect the railways of Azerbaijan and Iran. The bridge's construction is planned to finish by late 2016.

Under the agreement, Azerbaijan and Iran will jointly build the border bridge.

Javid Gurbanov, the Head of Azerbaijan Railways JSC told Trend on April 21 that Iran will draw a loan to finance its part of the construction of the railroad bridge over the Astara River on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border, but did not specify the amount, source and timing of drawing the funds by Iran

He said Azerbaijan itself will finance the construction of its section.

The length of the railroad bridge will reach 82.5 meters, while its width is 10.6 meters.

The bridge will become an integral part of the Astara (Azerbaijan) - Astara (Iran) railway, which is part of the North-South international transport corridor.

At present, the sections of the Qazvin-Rasht and Astara (Iran) - Astara (Azerbaijan) railway are being constructed as part of the project.

The Astara (Iran) - Astara (Azerbaijan) section is planned to be constructed in 2016, while the Qazvin-Rasht section in 2017. The Rasht-Astara railway will be under construction simultaneously.

The Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway is part of the North-South transport corridor. Construction expenses are estimated at $400 million.

Initial plans call for transporting six million tons of cargo through the corridor a year, which is expected to reach 15-20 million tons per year in the future.

Addressing the ceremony, Mustafayev said the construction of the railway bridge over the Astara River will become a milestone in the cooperation of Azerbaijan and Iran.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran are developing rapidly in all directions, and multilateral relations, based on a solid foundation, have reached the level of strategic cooperation.

The two countries are located in very favorable strategic positions that create great opportunities for benefiting from the bilateral ties, are engaged in the development of transport ties.

Iran, which is situated in the Middle East region, has land borders with the South Asian, Central Asian, and Middle East countries, with access to the Gulf and Indian Ocean.

Azerbaijan, being in the cradle of the Caspian Sea, is settled in between the West and East. The country plays a gateway role between not only the east and west, but also the north and south. The Land of Fire is positioned on one of the most important trade and transit routes to Europe.

In this regard, the transportation sector is one of the main areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran.

The North-South transport corridor, which will carry out transportation of millions of tons of cargo from India to Russia and Europe and vice versa, will pass through the territories of Azerbaijan and Iran.

At the initial stage, it is planned to transport annually five million tons of cargo through the corridor, while at the next stage - more than 10 million tons.

Mustafayev believes that it will allow Azerbaijan and Iran to realize their transit potential, to gain additional income, to create jobs and to strengthen the economic position in the region.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vaezi said infrastructural works for the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway have been completed by 92 percent, and the railway's construction will end by late 2016.

"Iran's government has increased the allocated budget for this project during the current fiscal year, and Iran is in talks with Azerbaijan and Russia to cooperate with them in the realization of the project's Rasht-Astara section," he added.

Ties mulled

Later, Mustafayev and Vaezi held a meeting, during which the sides agreed that Azerbaijani and Iranian companies will sign four memorandums of understanding on April 21 as part of implementation of joint projects for medicine and car production.

Speaking at the meeting Mustafayev said the documents will be signed between the Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park, Azerbaijan Investment Company, Azersun Holding and Iran's Darou Pakhsh and Iran Khodro companies.

Azerbaijan's southern neighbor Iran is one of the main trade partners of Azerbaijan. The trade turnover between the two countries increased by 53 percent in the first quarter of 2016, as compared to the same period in 2015 and stood at $41.4 million.

Since April 2014, the two countries have signed 30 documents.

Mustafayev said that currently, Azerbaijan and Iran are working on expanding the cooperation in the agriculture, tourism, pharmaceuticals, transportation, banking and other sectors.

The parties also discussed the prospects for expanding the economic relations and cooperation between the two countries and increasing the effectiveness of the North-South transportation corridor.

Later, speaking at a press conference dedicated to the results of the meeting, Mustafayev said that Azerbaijan and Iran are negotiating the possibility of connecting the Nakhchivan-Julfa-Tabriz and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railways.

He said during the meeting, the sides discussed the realization of the Baku-Astara-Tabriz-Nakhchivan and Nakhchivan-Tabriz-Tehran-Mashhad railways.