BAKU, September 9. /TASS/. Russia and Iran will discuss the creation of a transport-logistic hub in the Bandar Abbas port zone during a three-party meeting in Baku devoted to the development of the international transport corridor North-South, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.
"Among the main tasks within the framework of activities of the working group we suggest that <…> the revision and agreement between the parties of the conditions for implementation of the project on the creation of the transport-logistic hub in the Bandar Abbas port zone (Iran) be considered," he said.
It is planned to discuss the development of logistic centers and services for transshipment of Russian cargoes in the ports of Enzeli and Bandar Abbas, as well as the use of the Bandar Abbas terminal for transshipment of cargoes flowing to the Persian Gulf states and further on to South Asia, Novak added.
An intergovernmental agreement on the creation of a multimodal transport corridor North-South was signed by Russia, India and Iran in 2000. Later the number of participants increased to 14. The goal of the project is to attract the transit of cargo flows from India, Iran and the Persian Gulf nations through Russian territory to Europe (compared with the sea route via the Suez Canal the distance shrinks by more than half, which brings the term and cost of transportation down). Currently the project unites several various transport systems of separate countries. India has invested around $2.1 bln in it, with part of the sum spent on the construction of transport infrastructure in Iran.