Georgian Railway Cuts Domestic and Export Dry Freight Rates

A file photo of a new rail link in Samtskhe-Javakheti region, which is being built as part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, connecting Azerbaijan and Turkey via Georgia.

Georgia will cut railway freight rates by 20% for domestic dry cargo shipments within the country as well as on dry cargo that is exported from July 1.

Georgian Railway said on Monday the move aims to boost rail cargo turnover. The state railway monopoly expects that the move will also help “to increase competitiveness” of the Georgian commodities and facilitate exports.

Georgian Railway carried a total of 4.93 million tons of freight in January-April 2015, which is a 2.6% decline compared to the same period of last year.

Out of this total, 722,316 tons of freight were domestic shipments within the country, compared to 717,926 tons in the first four months of last year.

322,535 tons of freight carried by the Georgian Railway in January-April of 2015 were destined for exports, a 41.7% year-on-year decline.

842,317 tons were import freight, an 8.6% increase compared to last year’s first four months, and slightly over 3 million tons were transit freight in January-April, almost the same as a year earlier.

Revenue from freight traffic accounted 88.3% of the Georgian Railway’s total revenues of GEL 511 million in 2014.

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