Road-Rail-Ferry Link Opened Between Turkey and Russia

The first integrated road-rail-ferry link between Turkey and Russia was officially opened on 19th February. The Samsun-Kavkaz ferry line, first mooted in 2005, was opened at a special ceremony held in Samsun, attended by Transportation and Communications Ministers Binali Yildirim and Maxim Sokolov.

This will be an important route linking the Balkans with the Middle East and Far East. The two countries aim to reduce bureaucracies at borders and simplify procedures at border gates to create the first fully integrated transport link, significantly reducing travel time and costs.

The ferry link project began in 2005. Since December 2010, 62 test trips have been made transporting 63,000 tons of cargo.

There are ambitious plans to build annual freight capacity from a current 40,000 tons to 100,000 tons by 2014, and to 500,000 tons in five years, according to Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov. Trade between the two countries amounted to $33bn last year, and there are ambitious plans to reach targets of $100bn in 5-10 years, said Sokolov.

Russia plans to build connections to the link internally and the northern and southern corridors in Turkey will also be combined, making a long distance, fully integrated transportation network.