Kazakhstan’s cargo carriers bound for Europe are reorienting their routes to Turkmenistan and Iran to ensure unhindered transit. This was announced by Vice Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan Satzhan Ablaliyev at a government meeting on Tuesday, 5 December 2023.
Ablaliyev noted a positive trend in recent years, with Kazakhstani carriers increasing their share in the EU cargo market by 13% in 2022, reaching 48%. This translates into additional revenue of approximately 80 billion tenge (over $173 million according to official exchange rate as of 6 Dec 2023).
The Vice Minister highlighted the closure of 8 out of 13 checkpoints between Belarus and the EU, along with the non-functioning of all checkpoints between Russia and Finland.
“According to the Belarusian side, European checkpoints are operating at no more than 40% of their standard capacity,” Ablaliyev reported.
“Due to these restrictions, Kazakhstani vehicles are experiencing increasing downtime at the Belarusian-Lithuanian and Latvian borders. Therefore, we have engaged in negotiations with Turkmenistan and Iran to secure seamless transit for our domestic carriers utilizing the Southern Route to Europe,” the official explained.
Although the Southern Route extends delivery times, according to Ablaliyev, it serves as an alternative for transporting sanctioned goods and navigating the closure of EU checkpoints bordering Russia and Belarus.
In late November, the Kazakh-Turkmen joint working group on the development of transport, transit, and logistics convened in Ashgabat. The resulting memorandum outlines plans to enhance cooperation between the two countries in railway and maritime transport. The agreement seeks to boost traffic volumes across their territories by establishing favorable tariff conditions, harmonizing infrastructure development, and implementing digital solutions for mutual information exchange. ///nCa, 6 December 2023