The route is set: the Caspian Forum discussed the North-South corridor

By 2030, the volume of freight traffic along the North-South corridor may reach $25 to $32 million, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexei Overchuk said at the Third Caspian Economic Forum held in Tehran on February 18. One of the priority topics on the agenda was the transportation and logistics sphere. In addition, Moscow is waiting for the completion of domestic procedures in Iran for the Free Trade Agreement between the EAEU and the Islamic Republic to enter into force. What other issues were raised at the forum - in the material of "Izvestia".

North-South ITC in the center of attention

On February 18, the Third Caspian Economic Forum was held in Tehran, which again brought together representatives of Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan. The importance of this forum can hardly be overestimated: the countries of the region are building economic ties, developing transportation routes and looking for new points of cooperation growth.

The Russian delegation at the forum was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk. Transport Minister Roman Starovoit, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Customs Service and Russian Railways , as well as business circlestraveled to Tehran , which emphasizes the wide range of issues to be discussed.

The previous forum, held in Moscow in October 2022, showed how dynamically cooperation between the Caspian littoral countries is developing. At that time, the focus was on projects to create new transportation corridors and develop international trade. The formation of infrastructure in Astrakhan and Makhachkala was discussed, which should strengthen Russia's logistics capabilities in the region. Two years later, the Astrakhan region has increased cargo turnover with the Caspian countries by one third by the end of 2024 - it exceeded 6 million tons.

This time one of the key topics was logistics: the Caspian basin countries are actively developing the North-South route, which connects Russia with Iran via Azerbaijan. Moscow intends to increase transit capacity, and also advocates the development of mutual investments and technological cooperation. These directions were continued at the forum in Tehran.

- According to the estimates of the Eurasian Development Bank, by 2030, freight transportation along the North-South corridor may reach $25 to $32 million. North-South is becoming a living example of comprehensive joint work. Measures are being taken to form competitive tariffs, develop technological cooperation, remove barriers and expand bottlenecks," the Russian Deputy Prime Minister said at the forum.

Russia has been expanding the volume of trade with the Caspian littoral countries in recent years. Trade turnover in 2021 increased by 35% and reached $34 billion. And in 2023 Russia's trade turnover with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan increased from 6 to 17.5%.

Areas of cooperation between the Caspian littoral states

Deepening of business cooperation and formation of new production chains is considered an important strategic task for the Caspian Five. Each of the countries seeks to overcome dependence on imported products, and special programs are being implemented for this purpose.

Another point is the transition to settlements in national currencies, as well as the development of an independent financial market infrastructure. With partners from friendly countries, Russia is establishing interaction of payment systems, expanding the geography of use of Mir cards.

Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov emphasized that the Caspian littoral countries are now creating a solid legal framework for sectoral cooperation. Since the second forum, important agreements have been reached in the transport sector, which create favorable ground for turning the region into a major international transport hub, the Prime Minister added.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov called trade and economic cooperation an important aspect of cooperation between the Caspian countries, especially the creation of favorable conditions for the expansion of investment, development of digital infrastructure, support for small and medium-sized businesses. For the practical implementation of existing agreements Kazakh Prime Minister proposed to develop a road map.

The forum in Tehran was the third Caspian Economic Forum event in this format - the first EEF was held in 2019 in Turkmenistan. The initiative to create a permanent platform for multilateral dialog was put forward in 2018 by the former president of this Central Asian republic, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

Caspian Sea subsoil sharing

A significant problem remains unresolved among the Caspian littoral states - the delimitation of the Caspian Sea bed. The Caspian littoral states have taken different positions on this issue. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan favored the "modified median line" method, while Iran insisted on keeping the Caspian in common use or dividing it into equal parts. Russia, for its part, supported the delineation of subsoil resources but was against the division of the water area. As a result, the countries failed to reach a unified position and the issue remained open.

- Iran would like both the water surface and the resources underwater to be divided into equal parts between the countries that access the sea, 20% of each. However, the other Caspian littoral countries adhere to the so-called median method of dividing the Caspian floor and water area," Iranianist Nikita Smagin told Izvestia.

According to him, the water area division lines of each state are at an equal distance from the corresponding nearest points on the coasts of these states. This approach leads to the fact that Iran receives only 14% of the Caspian Sea due to its specific coastal pattern, Nikita Smagin notes.

-This 14% is not yet the richest in terms of natural resources. So Iran is obviously not satisfied with this, it is in favor of taking its concerns and wishes in this direction into account, " says the specialist.

This is considered the main reason why the Iranian side has not yet ratified the Caspian Sea agreements.

It is worth noting that the Convention on the Status of the Caspian Sea fixed that the delimitation of the seabed would be carried out on the basis of bilateral and multilateral agreements between the littoral states. This effectively ruled out the possibility of an equal partition, which Tehran insisted on.

Russian-Iranian relations

Alexei Overchuk paid much attention to relations with the Islamic republic in his speech. According to him, Russia is waiting for the completion of domestic procedures in Iran for the EAEU-Iran Free Trade Agreement to enter into force. This will give a new impetus to trade and economic development of the states, the deputy prime minister added.

- As of today, Russia and Iran already have projects in the energy sector, which are being actively implemented. First of all, the Russian oil company ZN-Vostok, which is engaged in oil production, is working in Iran," said Iranian expert Nikita Smagin.

According to the expert, the countries have serious prospects for the development of cooperation in the gas sector, but in this area we are talking about some future prospects than about some existing projects.

Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Atabak said that Russia and Iran have great opportunities for cooperation, including in the field of oil and gas. The minister named trade, economy and energy as the main areas of interaction between the two countries.

The Russian delegation's visit to Iran comes amid active talks about a possible nuclear agreement between Tehran and the administration of US President Donald Trump, Iranian international relations expert Hadi Issa Daloul noted in a conversation with Izvestia. In his opinion, after the change of power in Syria, the Iranian leadership has become open to dialog with all sides if it meets the country's interests.

On February 18, Alexei Overchuk was also scheduled to hold talks with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, who visited Moscow in January. At that time, following a meeting with Vladimir Putin, Russia and Iran signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty.