On March 28, representatives of the Batumi Oil Terminal (BOT), owned by the Greenoak Group, stated that the “unilateral tariff increases” by the Azerbaijani side are a major reason for the 30 percent decrease in the volume of oil transported through the Azerbaijan-Georgia rail corridor, reported Civil Georgia. The tariffs, according to the source, have made the corridor “extremely uncompetitive,” and it is expected that compared to the 12.5 million tons transported during 2006, the overall oil cargo in 2007 will make up only 9.5 million tons.

Due to the tariffs, stated the BOT representative, the volume of Kazakh and Turkmen crude oil delivered through the corridor, which previously averaged about 500,000 tons per month, has recently fallen to 100,000 tons per month, while the “lost shipments are now being delivered to Iran.” Another concern for the BOT, reported Civil Georgia, was the fact that the Kazakh producer, Tengizchevroil, has begun rail exports through Odessa, Ukraine, despite the fact that this oil was previously intended for export through the Aktau-Baku route.

This information was originally published March 28, 2007 (www.civil.ge).