Azernews.Az

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijan and Bulgaria, which have well-established bilateral ties, may soon expand their cooperation to the sphere of port service operations.

The Baku International Sea Trade Port (Port of Baku), the oldest and largest port on the Caspian Sea signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company.

The document, which was signed during the 4th session of the Azerbaijani-Bulgarian intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, provides for the further expansion of cooperation and exchange of experience between the Baku International Sea Trade Port and Bulgarian ports of Varna and Burgas.

The memorandum was undersigned by Head of the Port of Baku Taleh Ziyadov and Director General of the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company Angel Zaburtov.

The cooperation is expected to contribute to the improvement of the quality of services and related management activities of port infrastructure, as well as ensure optimum efficiency of port services.

Port of Baku earlier signed MoUs with Antwerp, Panama, Aktau and Poti ports.

The Baku International Sea Trade Port was previously located in the middle of the city. Taking into account the bid of the country to become one of the major commercial and transportation hubs in the region and facilitate regional transformation, the state decided to move it to a new location, 70 km south of the capital Baku, near a small town called Alat, which is located at the strategic crossroads of the regional railroads and highways.

Port of Baku is expected to complete the first stage of its new international sea and trade port by 2017, increasing capacity to 11.5 million tons of cargo per year and up to 50,000 containers, many of which could be transshipped between China, Central Asia and Europe.

Being headquartered in Sofia, Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company manages the infrastructure of the public transport ports of national importance. The company has four territorial and three specialized divisions in Burgas, Varna, Lom and Ruse.

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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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