Russia’s trade and investment with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia is increasing as the region becomes more integrated with the larger INSTC multimodal logistics network throughout to the Middle East, East Africa, and South Asia. Discover the Caucasus as a strategic business and logistics hub connecting Russia and Asia. Explore transport corridors, trade opportunities, and investment potential in this critical economic region.
Russia’s Rosmorport is negotiating the construction of a maritime hub in Abkhazia, servicing the Black Sea region. Other investors from Africa and Asia are also involved in the project, which would reduce Abkhazia’s dependence on Russian ports and provide additional Black Sea logistics alternatives.
Azerbaijan is targeting an increase of Russian tourist visitors during 2026 and is hoping to attract upwards of 750,000 arrivals over the year. Russian tourist are becoming sought after they abandon European vacations due to the unfriendliness and opt for eastern destinations. Russians also now spend more overseas than European tourists do as the Eurozone economies enter recession and cost of living expenses increase.
Georgia, like several other Caucasus and Eurasian countries, has evaluated its energy security in the wake of the Iranian conflict and is to increase supplies of fuel from Russia. Their situation is vastly different from Europe which is cut off from Middle Eastern supplies, is politically estranged from Russia and is coming under increasing Ukrainian supply chain chokeholds as Kiev wields economic leverage over the EU and is capable of causing immense political support damage.
Russian Railways holds the concession for the Armenian South Caucasus Railway, however due to geopolitical differences between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkiye, large parts of the track have fallen into disrepair. Armenia wants Russian railways to pay for its restoration and then exit the project as Russian Railways are sanctioned and Yerevan says this is damaging its national transit trade potential as it geopolitical relations have now improved.
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held meetings in Moscow with Alen Simonyan, the President of the National Assembly of Armenia, on Thursday (February 5). The discussions have taken place during a period when Armenia has been looking to limit its engagement with Russia. Yerevan has suspended cooperation with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), […]
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Russia has exported 19,900 tonnes of grain to Armenia via Azerbaijan since November, according to Azerbaijan’s Report news agency. The news is significant, as it illustrates that Azeri-Armenian logistics and supply chains are now operating normally after the two countries fought a war in 2023 that created significant damage. The conflict wasn’t resolved until 2024, […]
Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia amounted to US$4.92 billion in 2025, up 2.5% compared to the previous year, the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee (SCC) has stated. Trade operations with Russia accounted for 9.96% of the country’s total foreign trade turnover, the SCC said. Russia is Azerbaijan’s third largest foreign trade partner after Italy and […]
Georgia’s Mtskheta–Stepantsminda–Lars Highway, also known as the Military Road, is undergoing a large-scale modernization, including a 27 km high-speed section and numerous new bridges. The Georgian government is spending about 1.2 billion lari (US$450 million) in upgrades, which includes the construction of the longest arch bridge in the country and a strategically important tunnel, with […]
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to lend Azerbaijan US$325 million to electrify and modernize the signalling and telecommunications system of the railway from Bilajary to Yalama on the border with Russia, the bank has stated. ADB said “This railway is part of the International North-South Transport Corridor, which is used for export and import […]
Railway executives from Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan have met in Baku to hold the 83rd meeting of the Transport Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States. So far, so routine. But what was actually agreed – and signed off – at that meeting has significant implications. In agreeing a new strategy and signing an MoU […]
Azerbaijan Railways (AZD) and Russian Railways (RZD) have signed an agreement on the bilateral exchange of e-data, AZD has announced. The respective parties signed the document on Wednesday in Baku following a meeting between AZD CEO Rovshan Rustamov and RZD CEO Oleg Belozerov. AZD stated that “The agreement will allow significantly improving the efficiency of […]
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