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Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
May 12 2012
Logistics global rating
By Alexander Karayev, deputy director of the Information-Analytical
Center under MSU
Russia ūs in 94th place out of 155 countries in the regular Logistics
Performance Index compiled by the World Bank. According to the
analysis of the speed of cargo transit and registration, the leading
states among the post-Soviet countries are Kazakhstan (62nd) and,
strange as it seems, Uzbekistan (68th). Azerbaijan is the third in
this group (89th). It is interesting that Georgia, despite all the
reforming in the sphere of logistics, shared a rather low score - 2,61
- with Russia and occupied the 93rd line of the rating. Of course,
virtual ratings do not exactly reveal the real state of communications
in any given country, but they describe the general situation giving
data for comparison.
Azerbaijan became the unquestionable leader in cargo transactions on
the South Caucasus. However, according to the WB rating, Azerbaijan
has serious problems with the quality of customs services (2.14 of 4
points), which is almost equal to Russia's. The infrastructure and the
level of competence of political services (2.48) isn't much better.
The indicators of the key aspect of the rating procedure - the time in
which the cargo gets delivered (3.15)- as well as the quality of
loading job (3.05) are, on the contrary, rather high. Azerbaijan
occupies a higher position in this rating that Russia, Georgia,
Armenia, Ukraine and a number of other post-Soviet states. And
Azerbaijan carries out its plan of logistic system modernization it
has a chance to turn this virtual achievement into an actual
transit-service leadership in the region and could compete for
becoming a part of the transit route from Kazakhstan and China.
In this case the initiative of Ukrainian PM Nikolay Azarov suggesting
the expansion of a multi-modal transit route 'Viking' to the states of
Central Asia via Azerbaijan and Turkey. This new route could speed up
the delivery of the Chinese goods to Europe and of the European goods
to Central Asia. The 'Viking' project appeared as a joint initiative
of Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine. For now it operates in small
volumes, but this indicator is constantly increasing. In 2011 Georgia
and Moldova joined the project.
Due to the constant political tension connected to Iran the
international transit corridor 'North-South' experiences serious
difficulties. The project of bridge construction on the Astara River
on the Iranian-Azerbaijani boarder has been under discussion for 10
years now. This project is due to be discussed once more by an
international expert group in India on May, 30.
Baku anticipates the creation of the new railroad line
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars. However this project might cost more that $1
billion as it would be incomplete without a new marine port in
Azerbaijan, and it is obvious that the expenses won't be compensated
right away.
Armenia, which is in the center of a number of regional conflicts,
stands 111th in the rating. Due to its conflicts with Azerbaijan and
Turkey the only possible transit transport there is the air-transport,
which raises the cost of the cargo. Nevertheless Yerevan tries to
develop the country's inner communications. Armenia invited Russia's
State Railroad Company to help with the modernization of its railroad
network. In late April, 2012 Spanish company Corsan-Corviam
Construccion, S.A. won the tender on construction of three sections of
the 'North-East' transit highway on Armenian territory (the deal is
$250 million worth). These sections of the highway will cover the 550
km distance between the country's boarders with Iran and Georgia and
will become the first concrete highway sections in the country.
The modernization of the transport-logistic infrastructure of Eurasia
proceeds at a very slow pace. The existing infrastructure was created
in the USSR epoch and is inadequate to today's conditions, so the
resources needed for their renovation are immense. However, if the
entrepreneurs of the region will finally be able to organize their
shipments on the European level, it would attract a lot of new
investors to the regions of the Central Asia, Caspian littoral and the
Caucasus. So if the sates of the regions would attribute more
attention to these issues it would give them a chance to improve their
positions in the international logistic ratings, which would also
increase the number of foreign investments. However, the logistic
situation on the CIS-space is still complicated by regional conflicts,
and that is the main obstacle on the way of the modernization.
From: A. Papazian
May 12 2012
Logistics global rating
By Alexander Karayev, deputy director of the Information-Analytical
Center under MSU
Russia ūs in 94th place out of 155 countries in the regular Logistics
Performance Index compiled by the World Bank. According to the
analysis of the speed of cargo transit and registration, the leading
states among the post-Soviet countries are Kazakhstan (62nd) and,
strange as it seems, Uzbekistan (68th). Azerbaijan is the third in
this group (89th). It is interesting that Georgia, despite all the
reforming in the sphere of logistics, shared a rather low score - 2,61
- with Russia and occupied the 93rd line of the rating. Of course,
virtual ratings do not exactly reveal the real state of communications
in any given country, but they describe the general situation giving
data for comparison.
Azerbaijan became the unquestionable leader in cargo transactions on
the South Caucasus. However, according to the WB rating, Azerbaijan
has serious problems with the quality of customs services (2.14 of 4
points), which is almost equal to Russia's. The infrastructure and the
level of competence of political services (2.48) isn't much better.
The indicators of the key aspect of the rating procedure - the time in
which the cargo gets delivered (3.15)- as well as the quality of
loading job (3.05) are, on the contrary, rather high. Azerbaijan
occupies a higher position in this rating that Russia, Georgia,
Armenia, Ukraine and a number of other post-Soviet states. And
Azerbaijan carries out its plan of logistic system modernization it
has a chance to turn this virtual achievement into an actual
transit-service leadership in the region and could compete for
becoming a part of the transit route from Kazakhstan and China.
In this case the initiative of Ukrainian PM Nikolay Azarov suggesting
the expansion of a multi-modal transit route 'Viking' to the states of
Central Asia via Azerbaijan and Turkey. This new route could speed up
the delivery of the Chinese goods to Europe and of the European goods
to Central Asia. The 'Viking' project appeared as a joint initiative
of Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine. For now it operates in small
volumes, but this indicator is constantly increasing. In 2011 Georgia
and Moldova joined the project.
Due to the constant political tension connected to Iran the
international transit corridor 'North-South' experiences serious
difficulties. The project of bridge construction on the Astara River
on the Iranian-Azerbaijani boarder has been under discussion for 10
years now. This project is due to be discussed once more by an
international expert group in India on May, 30.
Baku anticipates the creation of the new railroad line
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars. However this project might cost more that $1
billion as it would be incomplete without a new marine port in
Azerbaijan, and it is obvious that the expenses won't be compensated
right away.
Armenia, which is in the center of a number of regional conflicts,
stands 111th in the rating. Due to its conflicts with Azerbaijan and
Turkey the only possible transit transport there is the air-transport,
which raises the cost of the cargo. Nevertheless Yerevan tries to
develop the country's inner communications. Armenia invited Russia's
State Railroad Company to help with the modernization of its railroad
network. In late April, 2012 Spanish company Corsan-Corviam
Construccion, S.A. won the tender on construction of three sections of
the 'North-East' transit highway on Armenian territory (the deal is
$250 million worth). These sections of the highway will cover the 550
km distance between the country's boarders with Iran and Georgia and
will become the first concrete highway sections in the country.
The modernization of the transport-logistic infrastructure of Eurasia
proceeds at a very slow pace. The existing infrastructure was created
in the USSR epoch and is inadequate to today's conditions, so the
resources needed for their renovation are immense. However, if the
entrepreneurs of the region will finally be able to organize their
shipments on the European level, it would attract a lot of new
investors to the regions of the Central Asia, Caspian littoral and the
Caucasus. So if the sates of the regions would attribute more
attention to these issues it would give them a chance to improve their
positions in the international logistic ratings, which would also
increase the number of foreign investments. However, the logistic
situation on the CIS-space is still complicated by regional conflicts,
and that is the main obstacle on the way of the modernization.
From: A. Papazian