News - Putin: Russia implements North-South project with Iran and Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are also interested

Russia is implementing the North-South project, there are agreements with all participants in the process – Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are showing interest, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, RIA Novosti reports. “We have agreements with all participants in this process – there are relevant documents with Iran, with Azerbaijan, and now I will meet with President Aliyev within the framework of the CIS summit in Kyrgyzstan. We will definitely talk about this topic. Azerbaijan has many current problems, but no one is giving up on this project. Turkmenistan is also showing interest, and Kazakhstan on the other hand,” Putin said during a speech at the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week. He also noted that preparations for the implementation of the North-South project are being completed; for these purposes, a consortium led by VTB Bank is being created. “When this practically begins, you know, we will now create a consortium led, in my opinion, by VTB - Vneshtorgbank of Russia, this work, preparation, preparatory work, is ending. I hope everything will begin in the very near future,” Putin said. The North-South international transport corridor is a multimodal route from St. Petersburg to the port of Mumbai (India) with a length of 7.2 thousand kilometers. There are three international transport corridor routes: trans-Caspian (railways and ports), as well as western and eastern (overland). In May 2023, Russia and Iran signed documents on the completion of the last necessary section of the railway on the western North-South route – Astara-Rasht in Iran.