Ministry of Transportation (Azerbaijan)

The Ministry of Transport of Azerbaijan Republic (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikasının Nəqliyyat Nazirliyi) is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of regulating transportation sector in Azerbaijan Republic. The ministry is headed by Ziya Mammadov.^[1]

History

The ministry was established on August 5, 1998 by the Presidential Decree No. 743. The statute of the ministry was approved by the President Heydar Aliyev on June 10, 2003. According to the ministry charter, it is responsible for organization and implementation of state policies in the state railway, water, air and automobile transportation sector.^[2]

Structure

The ministry is headed by the minister aided by two deputy ministers. Main functions of the ministry are regulation of activities in the transportation sector of Azerbaijan consisting of transportation activities of entities by railway, water, automobile, air; shipping and expedition activities; design, projection and construction of roads, repairs and maintenance of roads; technical maintenance of hydrotechnical equipment in maritime transportation; preparation of human resources and implementation of scientific research; cooperation with transportation ministries in other countries for joint projects.^[3]

Projects

The ministry is involved in big international projects such as TRACECA for revitalization of the Ancient Silk Way, Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway, etc. Almost all transport projects within Azerbaijan except for oil and gas pipelines such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan are regulated by the Ministry of Transport.^[4] High economic growth in Azerbaijan in the recent years triggered many construction projects including repairs and construction of new roads throughout the country. In 2004, 46 km road between Ələt and Qazıməmməd was built, 6 new overpass bridges were built in Gabala, Tovuz, Gadabay, Ujar, Quba and Biləcəri, 290 km and 178 km of existing roads, 3 bridges were extensively repaired. Several sections of major interstate roads such as 508 km long Baku-Ələt-Qazakh highway, 85 km long Qazıməmməd-Kurdamir, 188 km long Kurdamir-Ucar-Yevlakh-Ganja were rebuilt according to international standards.^[3] In late 2009, the ministry signed a protocol with the Korean International Cooperation Agency for the feasibility study for Baku Bay Sea Bridge Project. The projected bridge will connect Shykh with Zığ settlement stretching over Bay of Baku for 14.5 km.^[5] Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov and President of Stadler Rail Group Peter Spuhler informed the President that Swiss Stadler Rail Group and Azerbaijan-based Railway International Distribution LLC signed a contract on establishment of joint venture for wagon-assembling.^[6]

See also

• Cabinet of Azerbaijan
• Transport in Azerbaijan

References

Ministries and State Agencies of Republic of Azerbaijan
State Ministries	Agriculture Communications and Information Technologies Culture and Tourism Defense Defence Industry Ecology and Natural Resources Economic Development Education Emergency Situations Energy Finance Foreign Affairs Healthcare Internal Affairs Justice Labor and Social Protection of the Population National Security Taxes Transport Youth and Sports
State Committees and Services	Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources Border Service Civil Aviation Administration Committee for City Building and Architecture Committee for Family, Woman and Children Affairs Committee for Refugees and IDPs Committee for Securities Committee for Work with Religious Organizations Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents Committee on Work with Diaspora Copyright Agency Customs Committee Land and Cartography Committee Maritime Administration Migration Service National Archive Department Procurement Agency Property Issues Committee Social Protection Fund Statistics Committee