Baku port has ambitious plans to create a transhipment hub to handle cargo previously routed through Russia, with work to expand its container operations to 500,000 TEU scheduled for 2024. 

Cargo shipments through the ‘Middle Corridor’, an alternative trade route to the Northern Corridor which includes the Trans-Siberian Land Bridge through Russia and the maritime trade route through the Indian Ocean, rose dramatically to 3.2 million tons in 2022, from 530,000 tons in 2021, as the global value chain adjusted to economic sanctions imposed on Russia as a consequence of the conflict in Ukraine.

Taleh Ziyadov, director-general for the Baku port told ICS Leadership Insights: “In 2021, Russian railways handled close to 700,000 TEU and the forecast was that this could be increased at least four times. However, due to the conflict in Ukraine, now there are almost no transshipments directed between Europe and Asia via Russia, but obviously the potential is there.” 

On 5 December, Jeyhun Bayramov, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, spoke about increasing the transport potential of the Caspian Sea. Ziyadov believes that this level of ambition can be used as the foundation for sustainable economic growth.

With Baku port already recognised by the European Sea Ports Organisation as the first “Green Port” in the Caspian Sea, and with plans to become a net zero port by 2035,  Ziyadov envisages an intermodal green corridor to move goods sustainably across rail and maritime networks: “The Middle Corridor is a viable green alternative to existing routes, which can reduce transit times, spread wealth, and also cut emissions”, he said. 

Ziyadov noted that while infrastructure projects of such scale are expensive and require private and government investment, he does not wish to merely capitalise on transit. He believes that the Middle Corridor can also strengthen Trans-Caspian cooperation, a vital counterbalance to geopolitical instability.

The Baku port director-general said creating a transhipment hub in Azerbaijan will help energise regional economies as it sits at a strategic crossroads between both East-West and the North-South trade. “The Middle Corridor offers economic opportunities for the 140 million people located within 1,000 kilometres of Baku, and we want to increase their access to regional and international markets”, said Ziyadov. 

A number of challenges still need to be overcome with the Middle Corridor, including infrastructure development, transfer services between transport modes, and customs-related border-crossing delays. Nevertheless, the decision to convene the 25th session of the United Nations Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) in Baku in April 2023, reflected the country’s prominent role in improving connectivity across Central Asia.