Armenia becomes multimodal freight forwarding transit country, linking Europe to Iran

Armenia will become a transit country by carrying out shipments from Europe to Iran and vice versa. “In a test option – this week two maritime containers left Germany, arriving in Romania’s port, transported to Poti by sea, then to Yeraskh station by trail, from where they were shipped to Iran by trucks,” first deputy minister of transportation, communication and information technologies Arthur Arakelyan told “Armenpress.”

This multimodal transit transportation way was under discussion for the past two years. However, during the Armenia EXPO 2016 in Tehran, the practical stage of negotiations was launched by the meeting of the leadership of SouthCaucasian Railway and Iran’s transportation companies’ federation. Regarding the shipment of the first containers, Arakelyan said it was a test shipment.

“It allowed us and our partners to document and analyze the problems which occur on the way and jointly try to overcome the obstacles which impact the timing and price of the shipment,” he said.

According to him, the containers reached Yeraskh from Poti in 38 hours, which is a quite good indicator, however it is necessary to decrease the time period. “In addition to increasing economic activeness, the creation of this corridor has also a strategic significance.

Taking into consideration the closed borders with the two neighboring countries, it is extremely important for us to have a stable operating transportation corridor,” he said.

In his words, the project will also contribute to the development of commercial ties with Iran. Arakelyan highlighted the role of the Armenian Ambassador to Iran and the Iranian Ambassador to Armenia in the effective discussions between the sides.