Bulgaria offers to host a ministerial meeting to step up the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, which runs from Southeast Asia and China through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and further to European countries. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Aleksiev made the proposal at a meeting held on Wednesday on his initiative with Ambassadors Huseyn Huseynov of Azerbaijan, Otar Berdzenishvili of Georgia and Viktor Temirbayev of Kazakhstan.
Aleksiev said that the inclusion of the Bulgarian Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas in this route is essential for providing a strategic alternative to the logistical corridor via Russia which has been blocked by the war in Ukraine. According to him, the two ports have idle capacities and are very well connected to the Bulgarian rail and road network.
The main objective of the upcoming ministerial meeting is to emphasize the importance of the Middle Corridor for east-west and north-south connectivity.