Belarus is included in the North-South ITC
Belarus will participate in the international North-South corridor for the first time: in March-April, test (trial) transportation of Belarusian export cargo to Iran will take place along the trans-Caspian route of this corridor. Agreements were reached recently during negotiations in Astrakhan between the Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko and the general director of the special economic zone “Lotus” (Caspian region of the Astrakhan region) Sergei Milushkin.
Through the ports of the Astrakhan region, it is planned to transport from Belarus, first, chemical fertilizers, dairy products, and light industry goods; Then the list of goods is planned to be supplemented with processed wood and some types of mechanical engineering products. According to preliminary information, part of Belarusian chemical fertilizers will be sent in transit through Iran to other Asian countries this year.
For greater economic efficiency of these transportations, the Ambassador of Belarus to the Russian Federation Dmitry Krutoy spoke in favor of using “an effective (reduced – Ed.) average tariff for the delivery of goods from Belarus to Astrakhan, further to Iran and, possibly, to India.”
In turn, the head of the Lotus SEZ explained that this issue is “being discussed with the logistics business and Belarusian colleagues.” In addition, Belarus is invited to participate in the development of a new port complex in the Zaburunny region (south of the Volga-Caspian port of Olya). The Belarusian side will also be able to use this facility with a capacity of up to 20 million tons per year: it is planned to be put into operation no later than 2025. It is also proposed to create Belarusian enterprises and Russian-Belarusian joint ventures, primarily of an export profile, in the Lotus SEZ.