Lithuania considers BTK as potential alternative to delivering goods through Russia: ministry (Exclusive)

Lithuania considers the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) as a potential alternative to delivering goods through Russia, Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications told Trend.

"The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, which is an important part of the Southern route to China, is for us a potential alternative to delivering goods through Russia. We are interested in Azerbaijan's plans for these transportations,” said the ministry.

Moreover, the ministry said Lithuania offers inexpensive transportation of Azerbaijani cargo to Europe.

"Lithuania has established a well-functioning multimodal transport and logistics system and plays an important transit country role in the East-West and North-South transportation corridors; therefore, our country offers Azerbaijan a safe, fast and inexpensive transportation of Azerbaijani cargo to Europe and the Scandinavian countries,” said the ministry.

The official opening ceremony of the BTK railway was held in Baku Oct. 30, 2017. The BTK railway was constructed on the basis a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.

The railway’s peak capacity will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At an initial stage, this figure will be one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.