Russia, Turkey open railroad ferry link across Black SeaFebruary 19, 2013 - 21:52 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia and Turkey officially opened the first railroad ferry link across the Black Sea at a ceremony attended by the country’s transport ministers on Tuesday, Feb 19, according to RIA Novosti. The agreement establishing a rail-ferry link between the port of Caucasus in south Russia and the Turkish Black Sea port of Samsun was signed in May 2010. “The ferry has been operated since December 2010 in a test mode. Its freight capacity last year alone increased threefold to over 40,000 tons,” Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said at the launch ceremony. The ferry service’s capacity is expected to grow to 100,000 tons a year by the start of next year, Sokolov said. The ferry allows “delivery of cargo from Turkey to Russia and the countries of Central Asia and back in the shortest time possible and with the least cost,” rail monopoly Russian Railways said in a statement. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |