Eastern Black Sea wants exporter rail

The Eastern Black Sea exporter wants a railway: Expressing that the preference rate of Eastern Black Sea ports in international trade has decreased due to the lack of a railway connection, DKİB President Gürdoğan said, "The railway connection that will reach Batumi-Sarp and Hopa Ports should be established as soon as possible."

Eastern Black Sea Exporters Association (DKİB) Chairman Ahmet Hamdi Gürdoğan, Eastern Black Sea ports, the preference rate in international trade is decreasing day by day due to the lack of railway connections, goods movements and transit trade between Europe, the Middle East and Central Asian countries, railway connections and it is shifting to the ports of rival countries with adequate logistics infrastructure.

Gürdoğan stated that throughout the history of the Eastern Black Sea Region of 4 thousand years, it has played a very important role in the transit trade between east and west, as well as being on the historical Silk Road route and transition point.

It is important to have advantages in the transportation system for competitive advantage

Gürdoğan noted that with the necessary infrastructure investments in logistics, Eastern Black Sea provinces and ports will reach an important position in the commodity trade between Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia and will become the region where logistics and commodity trade between countries are directed again, and to have a say in international trade, an adequate and developed transportation drew attention to the fact that it will be possible with its infrastructure. Gürdoğan said, “The most important issue in achieving competitive advantage is surely the advantages in the transportation system. The most important of the system in which we can achieve competitive advantage in transportation systems is railway transportation ”.

Expressing that the preference rate of the ports in the Eastern Black Sea is decreasing day by day due to the lack of railway connections, Gürdoğan points out that the movement of goods and transit trade between Europe, the Middle East and Central Asian countries has shifted to the ports of rival countries with sufficient rail connections and logistic infrastructure. did. Gürdoğan said, “Today, goods movements between Europe and Central Asia region between Romania's Constanta, Bulgaria's Varna, Ukrainian ports and Georgia's Batumi, Poti ports and Russia's Black Sea Region ports, between the Middle East and Central Asia region. on the other hand, it has moved to ports of Georgia, Russia and Ukraine via Dubai, Egypt and Iran ports. However, in the past years, these goods movements were made through the ports of our region, ”he said.

"Advantage of Batumi-Hopa railway"

Gürdoğan noted that the logistics container companies that direct the world commodity trade have started to build the necessary infrastructures in these ports by adding Batumi and Poti ports to their stopover destinations. For this reason, Gürdoğan pointed out that the priority of connecting the Eastern Black Sea to the railway network should be provided with the Batumi-Hopa railway connection, which has a higher load potential and can be built with much lower cost, instead of the domestic line railway connection, and said, "From the benefit-cost axis, it is clear that this line is the most feasible line. will emerge ”he said.

Ahmet Hamdi Gürdoğan stated that, in 33 and 1999, the Ministry of Transport and State Planning Organization informed them that the connection was feasible, strategic importance and superior regarding the Batumi railway line, which is 2000 kilometers away from Hopa Port. "Hopa Port, then Rize, Trabzon, Giresun and Ordu to connect to Samsun line, and then to Erzincan line, which is planned as a high-speed train line, will make a great contribution to the Eastern Black Sea economy."