The Development of the Transport Sector in Azerbaijan: The Implementation and Challenges (original) (raw)
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AZERBAIJAN’S STRATEGY FOR THE DIVERSIFICATION OF ENERGY TRANSPORT ROUTES (from page 175)
The main aim of this paper is to reveal a formula for determining transport routes that facilitate the export of Azerbaijani hydrocarbons to world markets. Azerbaijan is a country with no access to the open seas. One of the essential problems with which landlocked states are faced is the pursuit of stable and secure access to world markets, which play a crucial role in the exporting country’s political and economic stability and welfare. Without access to the open sea, these states strongly depend on the political will of their neighbors who can use their geographically advantageous location for their own national interests. This problem is also of concern to the states of the Caspian Sea region, including Azerbaijan. During the early years of its independence, Azerbaijan, whose main export items are oil and natural gas, pursued and energy policy that prioritized the provision of stable and secure routes to the world markets. For Azerbaijan, this was necessary to prevent its possible dependence on neighboring countries, as well as to be able to maneuver in the case of unforeseen circumstances. The ideal policy and the main task of Azerbaijan’s energy strategy is the diversification of export transport corridors. This article analyzes the policy of Azerbaijan to create sustainable and alternative energy transport links and to establish relations with available and potential transit states. In addition, this paper will evaluate the success of this strategy and define future prospects for the development thereof.
AZERBAIJAN ENERGY STRATEGY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DIVERCIFICATION OF EXPORTED TRANSPORT ROUTES
Azerbaijan is a state which has significant oil and gas resources. After gaining its independence it attempted to solve its own political and economic problems with the realization of projects related with the exploitation of these resources. The basic policy of the state is the diversification of transport routes to export its own energy resources to the world markets. Thereby Azerbaijan intends to achieve independence for the implementation of its national interests in foreign policy and in the energy field. This article will address the strategy and a tactical step that makes Azerbaijan able to achieve the alternative export routes.
Globalization and liberalization of the economies in worldwide raise the importance of transportation strategies to make difference in competitive environment. The rise of Asian economies attracted the attention of other countries. As a result of, the center of gravity of the World trade has shifted towards the east, Eurasian countries has appeared as ensuring sustainable economic growth by developing the trade relations among Eurasian countries as well as with other countries, and also European countries decided to expand the transport networks which facilitate trade relations . In line with these strategies, Asia-Europe transport corridor projects have been created. Some of these projects are; the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T), Pan-European Corridors (PEC), Modern Silk Road and Europe-Caucasia-Asia Transport Corridor (TRACECA). But, there are deficiencies (like infrastructure, legislation) existing when these projects put into practice, and also, Caspian Sea (as an important land defect) necessitates intermodal transportation. In this paper, it has been aimed to examine alternative transportation lines in the region, reveal the current problems, and propose solutions within the context of infrastructure or transport policies. In scope of the study, qualitative research technique used, several visits were made to stakeholder countries to obtain data from field studies, and workshops were held as closed sessions.
An innovative solution for transportation among Caspian region
Globalization and liberalization of the economies in worldwide raise the importance of transportation strategies to make difference in competitive environment. The rise of Asian economies attracted the attention of other countries. As a result of, the center of gravity of the World trade has shifted towards the east, Eurasian countries has appeared as ensuring sustainable economic growth by developing the trade relations among Eurasian countries as well as with other countries, and also European countries decided to expand the transport networks which facilitate trade relations . In line with these strategies, Asia-Europe transport corridor projects have been created. Some of these projects are; the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T), Pan-European Corridors (PEC), Modern Silk Road and Europe-Caucasia-Asia Transport Corridor (TRACECA). But, there are deficiencies (like infrastructure, legislation) existing when these projects put into practice, and also, Caspian Sea (as an important land defect) necessitates intermodal transportation. In this paper, it has been aimed to examine alternative transportation lines in the region, reveal the current problems, and propose solutions within the context of infrastructure or transport policies. In scope of the study, qualitative research technique used, several visits were made to stakeholder countries to obtain data from field studies, and workshops were held as closed sessions.
Having reliable and effective transportation networks for easy access to global markets is vital for modern economic development and security, particularly for landlocked states with disadvantageous geographical locations. Thus, the creation of efficient transportation corridors is very important for Azerbaijan and its Central Asian neighbors Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in terms of obtaining secure and cost effective access to the major export and import markets, and in order to overcome the trade bottlenecks created by the geography. Consequently, ensuring the reliable export of hydrocarbon resources to world markets and establishing cargo transport corridors have been a shared goal for Azerbaijan and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia since the restoration of independence in 1991. Currently, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, together with Azerbaijani railways, serve as an important export route for Central Asian oil to international markets. The Trans-Caspian partnership for the delivery of Central Asian energy resources to world markets is not limited to oil. There are also ongoing talks about the possibility of transporting Turkmen gas via Azerbaijan as part of the Southern Gas Corridor project. The other priority in regard to the creation of the geopolitically and geo-economically strategic Trans-Caspian corridor is the establishment of a South Caucasus-Central Asia cargo transit route between Asia and Europe. Attracting part of multi-billion EU-China trade to transit through Central Asia and South Caucasus offers a significant revenue source for all of the regional countries, as well as promises to create an effective corridor for their own trade relations with Asian and European countries.
The idea of building the Trans-Caspian pipeline between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan has always aggregated both old historical discussions about the legal status of the Caspian and the division of its resources and current rivalries in terms of gas supply (including costs, short and long term benefits). Despite the fact that it has been many times at the heart of bilateral and multilateral meetings and discussions, no interested part has taken it further. This research aims to sketch a new perspective over the place of Azerbaijan in the current Eurasian energy architecture, highlighting not only its resources, but mainly referring to its strategic position, at the crossroads of the European energy demand and the energy offer of the Central Asian countries. What role could Azerbaijan play in the current regional energy security architecture and the implementation of the proposed Trans-Caspian pipeline?
Innovative Economics and Management, 2020
Historically Georgia is associated with the “Silk Road” transport corridor, which connected the Asian and European countries by its geographical location. “Silk Road” transport corridor did not lost its actuality even during the last decades. This is proved by development of small and large-scale transport corridors in the Eurasian region being implemented and planned by different countries at different times, signing new cooperation agreements and forming associations that are part of the historic “Silk Road” route. In the present paper is discussed the represented transport corridors in the Caucasus and Eurasia regions, which are one of the important levers in the Eurasian region to increase the economic interests and the spheres of their influence of the major players in the region, such as the European Union, China, Russia and Iran. The goal of the present work is to determine the importance and opportunities of Georgia as the transport corridor country in the context, that in parallel, alternative transport corridors are being formed in the region, as well as observation is made how developments are related to these processes in the Eurasian region. The aim of the study is to describe the geopolitical and economic situation in the Eurasian region and to line out the strengths and weaknesses of Georgia - as a transport corridor country connecting the EU and Asian countries. Originality and value of the given research lies in studying the state of Georgia as a country of a transport corridor in relation to the development of other alternative transport corridors in the region, as well as identifying existing and potential weak positions and determining ways to overcome the weaknesses. To achieve the objectives of the study were used complex methods of obtaining information. By bibliographic research was implemented extraction, sorting and analyzing the secondary data. The theoretical basis of the research is the existed literature on the subject: scientific papers, studies, publications, articles from periodicals, data retrieved from the Internet. This thesis discusses the existing geopolitical situation in the Eurasian region and the impact of sanctions imposed on some countries in the region on the functioning of the middle corridor, which has a positive impact on the functioning of the corridor. The current logistical challenges faced by the countries involved in the corridor are also discussed.
Implementation of “East-West” and “North-South” Transport Corridors
Naukovì perspektivi, 2022
The research aims. The article considers the railway and pipeline component of the "East-West" and "North-South" projects. It should be noted that some of the railway transport projects have been completed. For the further development of these projects, new railway lines are being built for the implementation of the expected to provide new areas that need to be freed from new developments. Methods and methodology: To achieve comprehensive results, the method of comparative analysis was used to identify the development of trade with Europe, Russia, Central Asia, the Caucasus region to the Persian Gulf and India, the Caspian countries with ports of the Black sea. Content analysis used to clarify forms of relations between Azerbaijan and Europe. Innovation. The article presents new ideas and conceptual scientific ideas about Azerbaijani energy carriers may not be enough for mixing pipelines through the Caspian sea, it may be necessary to return to the use of energy carriers of Central Asian States. Moreover, the problem of the status of the Caspian sea between them has been solved. The above can be considered as the scientific novelty of the article.