Tag Archives: logistics

Afghan rail link via Turkmenistan to is on, says Tajikistan

SEPT. 25 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s government said that a project to link up Afghanistan and Tajikistan with an 80km railway through Turkmenistan was still ongoing despite news reports quoting the Tajik ambassador to Turkmenistan saying that it had been cancelled. Turkmenistan and Tajikistan have rowed over the past few weeks over delays at the Turkmen border for Tajik trucks trying to cross to Afghanistan. This has fuelled speculation that Tajik-Turkmen relations and joint projects would be damaged.
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>>This story was published in issue 387 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 1 2018

Azerbaijan to finance train line to Iran

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SEPT. 21 (The Bulletin) — Azerbaijan agreed to lend Iran $500m to complete a railway line between Rasht and Astara, north Iran, that it deems essential for a North-South Transport Corridor that should, according to the plan, transport products from India to Russia by sea and rail. The rehabilitation of relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have been key to getting this project off the ground.

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— This story was first published in issue 344 of The Conway Bulletin, now called the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Sept. 24 2017.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2017

Tajikistan cancels licences for international courier agencies

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DUSHANBE, JUNE 19 2017 (The Bulletin) — International courier companies DHL, TNT, UPS and Pony Express are still waiting to be granted operating licences, nearly two weeks after the government suddenly ordered them to stop work.

The authorities told four of the world’s biggest courier companies that they needed to apply for a new licence to continue operations on June 7, but despite consultations and attempts to talk to the authorities none of the companies have yet been able to re-start work.

“We have no idea why this happened so suddenly. We have been working in the country since 1995, and never faced such an issue,” said an employee of UPS in Dushanbe. “We still have not heard anything from the communication services. Most probably the government is trying to popularise Pochtai Tojik [the Tajik Post Office], and remove competition.”

The row is a reminder of the fragile nature of doing business in Tajikistan. At the beginning of the year the government slapped a back-tax fine on mobile operator Tcell just as Sweden’s Telia was trying to sell its 60% stake in the company. Telia accused it of trying to interfere and profit from the sales process.

On the courier companies, the state-run news agency Khovar said that the companies would be able to apply for a new licence if they wanted to return to work.

“The law must be respected. If the above-named companies appeal to the Liaison Service for registration of their license, after a positive decision they will be reopened,” Khovar quoted an unnamed government source as saying.

But an employee of TNT said that getting a new licence wasn’t quite as simple as the Tajik authorities appeared to make out.

“Work in our office has stopped since June 7 and no comments are even made at these days,” she said.

“We applied for the license but there has been no result on that.”

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Rail links China and Iran via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

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JUNE 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — Railway container services linking China with Iran via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are due to begin this month after the sides agreed various deals in May, the Railway Gazette reported. It said that the 10,300km journey would take around 14 days rather than 40 days by sea.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Azerbaijan plans logistics base

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JUNE 7 2017 (The Bulletin) — Following the trend for centres dedicated to increasing trade and boosting logistics across the Central Asia and South Caucasus region, Azerbaijan said that it was going to create a tax-free zone at its Caspian Sea port of Alyat. Governments in Central Asia and the South Caucasus have been rushing to position themselves as the natural link between Asia and Europe. Taleh Ziyadov, director general of Baku International Sea Trade Port said he wanted to create a “five star hub” at Alyat, which is 65km from Baku.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Georgia plans to build a trade hub

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JUNE 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s government said that it plans to build two new logistics hubs, one at Kutaisi and one outside Tbilisi, in an effort to brand itself as a transit hub between Asia and Europe. Economy minister Giorgi Gakharai said the Tbilisi hub would cost $82m to build and the Kutaisi hub would cost $72m. This year Georgia signed a free trade agreement with China which it said it would use to promote itself as a trading bridge between China and the rest of the world.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Logistics market grow in Azerbaijan

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MAY 17 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Pony Express, a Russian logistics company, said that it had opened up an office in Azerbaijan to take advantage of the opportunities that it expects major transport routes to generate. Media quoted regional development director Sergey Sergushev as saying that the development of a North-South transport corridor linking India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia, as well as the already established trans-Cas- pian Sea route, would boost demand for logistic services in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has been trying to position itself as a major link between Europe and Asia and companies such as Pony Express moving in will be a boost to its aspirations.

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(News report from Issue No. 329, published on May 20 2017)

DHL sets up an office in Azerbaijan

OCT. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — German logistics giant DHL set up an office in Baku, part of its drive to build a transport hub in the South Caucasus. In May, state- owned Azerbaijan Railways and DHL signed an agreement to establish a logistics hub in Azerbaijan to transport goods from China to Turkey, Russia and Europe. In Azerbaijan, DHL will initially employ Turkish management.

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(News report from Issue No. 302, published on Oct. 28 2016)

Azerbaijan’s railway signs agreement with DHL

MAY 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state-owned railway company signed an agreement with German logistics giant DHL to establish a hub in Azerbaijan to service Turkey, Russia and Europe with goods coming from China. Azerbaijan Railways’ representative Nadir Azmammadov met with a DHL delegation in Istanbul.

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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Czech steel maker delivers materials to Azerbaijan

JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Czech steel maker Trinecke Zelezarny delivered to Azerbaijan material for the renovation of a railway route. Last September, Trinecke Zelezarny won a 15b crowns ($605m) contract to supply and repair over 600km of rails. The company sealed the contract after Czech President Milos Zeman visited Baku in September 2015. Azerbaijan is also the second-largest oil exporter to the Czech Republic after Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)