13:32 - 21.12.2018

---

December 21, Fineko/abc.az. The railway logistics hub for the supply of fruits and vegetables from Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey to Russia, which is being created in Astrakhan by Azerbaijan’s KDY Logistics together with Russian Railways, will receive the first cargo before the end of this year.

Denis Afanasyev, Acting Minister of International & Foreign Economic Relations of Astrakhan Oblast, said that Azerbaijani company KDY Logistics has almost completed the preparatory phase of the project.

"We expect the arrival of the first batch of products by rail by the end of the year. Coordination talks with Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran have been held. Now deliveries with increase in their volume are to start - until the end of 2019 about 1 million tons of production to come from three countries - Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan will be received," Afanasyev said.

He pointed out that now fruits and vegetables from Turkey, Iran and Azerbaijan are mainly delivered to Russia by sea. At that, quality of the products deteriorates due to the fact that they absorb moisture. This problem will be solved during transportation by special railway transport. The project will enable to create about 3,000 jobs in the region.

The railway logistics hub is being created in the area of Kutum station (Astrakhan) on the area of almost 50 hectares. The reconstruction of railways has been carried out. The advantage of the hub will be cost savings in transportation of products and reduction of delivery time that is of particular importance for perishable goods (vegetables and fruits).