Port Overview

 The Freeport of Riga (FPR)  lies on both banks of the River Daugava covering 15 kilometres in length. Cargo transhipment capacity at the terminals of the Freeport of Riga accounts for 58,2 million tons per annum. In 2014 the FPR was the biggest port of the Baltic States by cargo turnover that reached 41,1 million tons. Number of vessels accommodated in 2014 amounted to 3797. Up to 80% of the Freeport of Riga cargo turnover is made up of transit cargo forwarded to or received from the CIS. 35 stevedore companies and 28 shipping agents successfully operate at the Freeport of Riga.

Main types of cargo handled at the Freeport of Riga are containers, various metals, timber, coal, mineral fertilizers, and chemical cargo and oil products.

On July 3, 2003 the Freeport of Riga Authority received a Quality Certificate compliant with the ISO 9001:2000 standard requirements issued by the Bureau Veritas Quality International.

On June 10, 2005 the Freeport of Riga Authority received a Quality Certificate compliant with the ISO 14001:2004 standard requirements issued by the Bureau Veritas Quality International.

The port is open for navigation all year round.

Port website: http://www.rop.lv/en

Key port information may also be found at: http://www.maritime-database.com/port.php?pid=1539

Description and Contacts of Key Companies

Working hours at the Freeport of Riga Authority on weekdays from 09.00 to 18.00. Harbour Master working hours are from 08.00 to 17.00. Port police working hours are on weekdays from 08.00 to 16.30 and for the Operational Control Division from 00.00 to 24.00

Contact information for key companies is provided below and further contact details can be found at the following link: 4.4 Tajikistan Port and Waterways Company Contact List

General Cargo handling Companies

Liquid bulk companies

Dry bulk companies

Shipping Lines

Regular shipping line status at the Riga port is granted to container, ro-ro and passenger transportation service providers with the aim to facilitate the said cargo and passenger flow attraction. Regular shipping line status provides such benefits as the port dues discounts that are applied for every vessel’s port call, depending on the number of vessel calls per year. Line status and rebate application procedure are stipulated in the Port Dues and Charges of the Port of Riga. 

In 2017 an agreement with the Freeport of Riga Authority was concluded by 6 container shipping lines and one passenger line.

Port Performance

Freeport of Riga in 2016 was:

• The second biggest port in the Baltic States by cargo turnover (38.06 mln.t)
• The Multifunctional port with cargo handling capacity 63 mln.t/year
• Serviced 3,521 ships with a tonnage of 43.7 mln.GT
• Passenger traffic: 582 thousand Passengers, including 71.4 thousand cruise passengers

Discharge Rates and Terminal Handling Charges

For information on port rates and charges, please see the following link at the Port of Riga website.

Berthing Specifications

General Cargo Handling Berths

Port Handling Equipment

Handling equipment at the port is managed by private companies.

Riga port has three main container terminals in addition to more than 48 bulk, breakbulk & general cargo terminals all are run by private companies & all have their own handling equipment,

Riga Container Terminal

• Reach stackers: 3 units (up to 45t)
• Mobile cranes: 1 unit (104 t)
• Portal cranes: 2 units (up to 100t)
• Terminal tractors: 8 units (up to 60t)
• Empty container handler: 1 unit (up to 9 t)

Baltic Container Terminal

• Quayside cranes : 4 Units ( 1 x 30t , 2 x 35t, 1 x 45t)
• Yard rail-mounted gantries: 4 Units (2 x 30.5t, 2 x 35t)
• Yard rail-mounted gantries for rail operations: 2 Units (2 x 30.5t)
• Reach stackers: 7 Units (7 x 45t)
• Yard tractors : 15 Units
• Roll trailers : 4 Units (4 x 50t)
• Axel trailers :14 Units (10 x 50t),(4 x 32t)
• Double trailers: 2 Units (2 x 60t)
• Forklifts : 37 Units (36 x 1.5t-7t ,1 x 25t)

Riga Universal Terminal

Loader: 8 Units (Capacity: 1,6 – 8t)       

Locomotive: 3 Unis (60 wagons)

Cargo trailer: 6 Units (Capacity: 24 t)     

Hoist 2: 14 Units (Capacity 1,8 t)

Front loader: 7 Units (up to 10 cubic m)

Container trailer : 8 Units (60 t)

Timber loader: 10 Units (boom deflection up to 23 m)

Marine tractor: 10 Units (80 t)

Rail crane: 5 Units (6 - 20 t)      

Container loader: 5 Units (42 - 45 t)       

Mobile crane: 2 Units (84 - 104 t )

Conveyor systems: 3 Units (230 cubic cubic m / h)

Container Facilities

Customs Guidance

Customs are operating 24/7. For more details regarding customs in Riga please see the following link: 1.3 Tajikistan Customs Information

For more about the port laws and regulations, please visit the following page on the Port website.

Terminal Information

GRAIN AND BULK HANDLING

RIGA PORT ELEVATOR (ROE) is the only specialized terminal for grain and grain products handling and storage in the port of Riga.

Main facts:

• Terminal capacity: 1 million tons
• Elevator storage capacity: 45,000 tons
• Open storage area capacity: 150,000 tons
• Berths: 3
• Draft: 7.9 m (vessels up to 15'000 tons)

Services:

• Transhipment of dry bulk cargo (to and from vessels, rail wagons and trucks)
• Storage
• Containerization of grain and grain products
• Laboratory services

Types of cargo:

• Grain and grain products
• Lumber
• Split stone
• Pig-iron
• Wood pellets

Stevedoring

As all port terminals are managed by private companies, each company manages all stevedoring activities.

Hinterland Information

Containers, bulk & break bulk commodities are being moved out of the port whether by rail or by Trucks

Port Security

Information on security and safety at the port can be found at the following link.

Airport Overview 

Airport Picture 

Description and Contacts of Key Companies

For more information on airport contacts and service providers, please see the following links: 

4.5 Tajikistan Airport Company Contact List

Dushanbe Airport Website 

https://www.azfreight.com/

Runways

In 2013 French air force specialists completed  extensive repairs of the airport runway, which had been going on for several years. They also lengthened the runway from 3.1 km to 3.5 km.  The runway is capable of handling the world’s largest aircraft loads. A number of years ago US experts did soil analysis and determined this to be the case according to a DIA spokesman.  

Helicopter Pad(s) 

Dushanbe International Airport has a number of helicopter pads that can accommodate all types of helicopters up to the largest.  These helipads belong to Tajik Air directly and not the airport authority.  

Airport Infrastructure Details 

DIA received 461 charter flights carrying freight in 2013. Total freight tonnage arriving at the airport was 2260 tons including on regularly scheduled passenger flights. 

From January to March 2018, between two Tajikistan airports (Dushanbe and Khujand), there has been 187,300 passengers outgoing and 3,213 mt in general turnover of the airport cargo service. 

Dushanbe International Airport is one of only 100 in the world certified for landing of the An-250- Maria, the world’s largest aircraft with a load capacity of 250 mt.  

In 2014 the construction of a dedicated freight terminal will begin, with a grant from the Japanese government. There are several warehouses and airplane hangars at the airport. 

Passenger and Cargo Performance Indicator

The airport terminal is currently operating far beyond its nominal capacity of 100 passengers per hour.  Completion of the new terminal building in early 2015 will allow for 500 passengers per hour and a minimum of 1.5 million passengers per year. 

Airport Operating Details

Storage Facilities

There is no warehouse space available at the Dushanbe airport. In the surrounding area available space is limited since the airport is located within the city limits of Dushanbe. 

Airfield Costs

Navigation Charges

Navigation charges are the same for all airports in Tajikistan and are collected by the state-owned company “TajikAir Navigation” under the Central Directorate of Aviation Services. Navigation charges are fixed by a treaty among several CIS (former Soviet Union) countries and can be found in English and Russian at: http://www.caiga.ru/common/AirInter/validaip/index.htm 

• The rate for by Dushanbe International Airport for charter flights is 40% above the rates in the current list. 
• Basic rates and tariffs are fixed at exchange rate of $1 = 8.886 somoni as of May 2018. Financial transactions with the airlines of RT are carried out at the prevailing exchange rate of National Bank of RT on the day of payment. 
• When financial transactions with international and foreign airlines that are not resident of RT are carried out with foreign currency with agreement of National Bank of RT. Document № 03/11 from 14/01/2011is to be used. 
• In the case of ordering special technical services to aircraft and then refusing the service, the Dushanbe International Airport will submit a bill with 50% of the cost of current rates and tarrifs for requesting the services.  

Fuel Services Charges

There is a single company in Tajikistan supplying aviation fuel to the four international airports. Prices are higher than in nearby countries like Kazakhstan. 

QIA is located 10 km east and slightly north of the city center of Kurgantyube (Qurghonteppa in Tajik language) the administrative center of Kurgantyube province with a population of about 2 million. 
In terms of passenger volumes the airport ranks fourth among Tajikistan’s four international airports. 
There were about 120,000 arrivals and departures in 2013.  
A single local company based in Qurghonteppa since 2007, East Airlines, operates 9 or 10 weekly flights to four cities in Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg and Novosibirsk as well as to Shymkent, Kazakhstan and to Bishkek. The company has two older Boeing 737s and two Airbus 320s. 
A semi-autonomous company took over operations of the airport in March 2013, at the time resurfacing and a small extension of the airport runway to 2250 meters was completed. 
The company has the ability to set its own prices for airport landing and other services and offers rates significantly lower than those of Dushanbe International.  
The airport has a goal to add two or three more airlines to increase its weekly flight total to 20 by the end of 2014.  
Air navigation charges are standard for all airports in the country as shown in the table under 2.0 Aviation. 
There is a single company in Tajikistan that provides jet fuel to all airports under a fixed price system.  
There is space available within the building or least to private companies and organizations. 
Customs and immigration offices are located within the airport terminal building. 
UNHAS has used Qurghonteppa sporadically including regular flights in 2003-004 from Kabul to Kunduz and then to Qurghonteppa with further transfer of passengers by bus to Dushanbe. 

For information on Tajikistan Qurghonteppa Airport, please see the following link: 

Airport Airlines Inform Website 

For information on Tajikistan Airport contact details, please see the following link: 4.5 Tajikistan Airport Company Contact List

Information on some aviation service providers can be found at:AZ Freight Website

Runways

Airport Infrastructure Details

A resurfacing of the runway was completed in March 2013.  The small Soviet era terminal building is undergoing renovation.  As the airport is self-financing, further improvements will depend on increased commercial traffic at the airport.  

Airfield Costs 

Navigation Charges 

The airport company has a fixed price schedule for its services, but these can also be negotiated according to some sources. 

Translation of airport price list dated 19 March 2014: 

Ground handling charges  

Costs of transport and personal ID passes for organizations, government departments, enterprises and individuals: 

Fuel Services Charges 

There is a single company in Tajikistan supplying aviation fuel to the four international airports. Prices are higher than in nearby countries like Kazakhstan. As of February 2014, it was anticipated that prices for Jet A-1 could drop by $200 per ton if the company passed on to airlines the savings made through Russia’s lifting of export duties on fuel in 2013. 

*N.B. These prices were given verbally by airport staff during February 2017 meeting.

Security 

Information on security procedures at the airport can be obtained from the airport general director. It is not clear whether the airport has obtained an ICAO certification or rating. 

 

Airport Overview 

Khujand International Airport (KIA) is serving Khujand, the second-largest city in Tajikistan. Khujand was formerly known as Leninabad (during the Soviet era); hence the IATA code LBD. It is located out of the city, in the nearby town of Chkalovsk. 

Serving the northern Sugd province with around 2.7 million population, KIA is Tajikistan’s second busiest airport.  Most flights are to various cities in Russia provided by Russian airline companies. The only domestic ones are daily flights to Dushanbe on Tajik Air and SomonAir.  

The runway dimensions are 3,185m by 50m, with an asphalt surface in good condition and with runway lighting.

 

 

Airlines and destinations: 

• Aeroflot operated by Donavia: Rostov-on-Donu 
• Asian Express Airline: Mineralnye Vody, Nizhniy Novgorod, Volgograd 
• China Southern Airlines: Ürümqi 
• NordStar: Krasnoyarsk, St Petersburg
• Orenair: Orenburg
• S7 Airlines: Chelyabinsk, Moscow-Domodedovo, Novosibirsk
• Somon Air: Almaty, Dushanbe, Kazan, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo, Moscow-Domodedovo, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Sochi, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg
• Tajik Air: Moscow-Domodedovo, Novosibirsk, Surgut
• Turkish Airlines Istanbul-Atatür
• Ural Airlines Kaluga, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo, Perm, Samara, Ufa, Yekaterinburg
• UTair Aviation: Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Tyumen 

For information on Tajikistan Airport contact details, please see the following link: 4.5 Tajikistan Airport Company Contact List

 

Airport Overview 

Since 2008 this airport mainly holds several daily flights to a few cities in Russia on airlines that are frequently able offer lower fares than from Dushanbe due to lower airport fees. Some travellers travel the 200 km from Dushanbe for the savings.  

Airport Picture 

For more information on airport contacts, please see the following link: 4.5 Tajikistan Airport Company Contact List

Information on some aviation service providers can be found at: https://www.azfreight.com/

This airport mainly has flight connections with Dushanbe on Tajik Air. Aga Khan Air Network helicopters also have regularly scheduled flights three times per week. Aga Khan Foundation has plans to build a new runway at the airport. 

 

For information on Tajikistan Airport contact details, please see the following link:

4.5 Tajikistan Airport Company Contact List

This airport in Sugd province does not have any regularly scheduled flights. 

 

For information on Tajikistan Airport contact details, please see the following link:

4.5 Tajikistan Airport Company Contact List

Tajikistan Road Corridors to Afghanistan

There are three viable corridors through Tajikistan that compare favorably overall with the existing rail corridor through Uzbekistan to Khairaton, Afghanistan based on current Uzbek railway tariffs. 

For further information on Customs in Tajikistan, please see the following link: 1.3 Tajikistan Customs Information

For contact information for Tajikistan Government contacts, please see the following link: 4.1 Tajikistan Government Contact List

Khujand – Nijny Pyanj  -  Kunduz

This corridor involves railroad movement from Kazakhstan and transiting through Uzbekistan as far as Khujand province in northern Tajikistan. Rail transport 350 km from Sariagash on the Kazakhstan – Uzbekistan border is $32 per mt. At Spitamen or another station in Khujand province wheat from Kazakhstan is offloaded from hopper wagons either for bulk storage in silos or is transloaded in bulk in 30 to 35 mt trucks for movement southwards. Thanks to new tunnels and avalanche galleries, the toll highway over the two mountain passes from Khujand to Dushanbe (320 km) is now open year-round. Per mt trucking rates are $35 to Dushanbe. Onward movement another 200 km to Nijny Pyanj is only another $10 per mt due to the lack of tolls or high mountain passes.  

From Dushanbe wheat or wheat flour can also be transported by truck via Kulyab to Khorog / Ishkashim in the Pamirs on the Afghanistan border. Favorable trucking rates from Dushanbe to ($30 per mt) should be possible due to the large number of 25 to 40 mt trucks returning empty via this route to China particularly in summer when there is high demand for building materials. 

Bishkek – Osh –Nijny Pyanj or Ishkashim

The Bishkek – Osh route completely bypasses Uzbekistan. It involves rail transport across Kazakhstan as far as Bishkek in northern Kyrgyzstan where there is modern and sufficient wheat storage and milling capacity among private companies. Wheat and other goods are moved on a good highway over mountain passes 672 km to Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan and then into Tajikistan via Karamik pass and through the Rasht valley where much highway improvement is going on and which is open year-round. The highway to Nijny Pyanj bypasses Dushanbe 20 km to the east goes through Kurgan Tyube. 
From Osh via a mountain pass further east commodity can also be trucked through the Pamirs via Murghab to Khorog and Ishkashim on the Afghanistan border with bridge crossings. This corridor was mostly used during the 1980s and 1990s by Russia to supply some regions of Afghanistan. Today truck traffic from Kyrgyzstan via this corridor is very light amounting to just a few trucks per month.  
According to Ministry of Transport officials, to avoid the high railroad tariffs for transit through Uzbekistan, the US government used the Bishkek – Osh – Tajikistan - Afghanistan corridor for movement of 450 mt of non-military supplies.  
 
Around 2004 or 2005, WFP moved goods by rail from Riga to Osh, Uzbekistan and by truck through Murghab to Khorog and into Afghanistan via Ishkashim to a WFP storage facility there at the time. 

Kashgar, China – Nijny Pyanj/ Shehon Bandar

The railroad connecting Xinjiang with deep sea ports in eastern China ends in Kashgar. There is a good highway on the Chinese side to the border and a Chinese company is currently improving the highway from the border crossing at Kulma to Murghab in the Pamirs (91 km). A new customs terminal is being built at Kulma, which will reduce waits at the border (currently up to 8 hours). 
Trucks carrying 60 mt move goods to two different terminals in the Pamirs: Murghab and Tang (30 km northeast of Khorog). Tajik trucks of 25 or 40 mt capacity receive goods transloaded at these terminals for movement to Dushanbe via Khorog. Trucking time from Kashgar to Khorog is about 3 days. From Khorog to Nijny Pyanj it requires one long day per interviews with truck drivers.  
Other Tajikistan transportation companies send their 25 to 40 mt trucks to Kashgar or even to Urumchi. The round trip takes about 10 days in winter including loading in Kashgar and waiting time at the border. Highway improvements have reduced the turnaround time from 14 days four years ago. Continuing roadwork on various sections of the route by Chinese, Iranian and Turkish companies, particularly from Khorog to Kulyab will reduce the trucking time by at least another day. 
Tajikistan’s largest trucking company, Sorbonotrans, is a major carrier from Urumchi and Kashgar. There is one Tajikistan trucking company, Tojiron, that moves Chinese goods in transit from Kashgar across Tajikistan to Nijny Pyanj. This company reportedly does about 15 trucks of 40 mt per month.  
Truck volumes have increased in the last year or more and should increase even more with the completion of roadwork and the new customs terminal. 
Relatively few goods move from China to Afghanistan via this route since the main Chinese supply route is over the Karakorum pass through Pakistan to Kabul. 
The Kulma border point is closed to international travelers for entry into China but it could be opened once roadwork and the new customs terminal is completed. 

Tajikistan – Afghanistan border crossings

There are four official border crossing points at bridges over the Pyanj River between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and one river ferry crossing. There are two additional bridges activation of the border crossing currently pending. Only two of these, Nijny Pyanj to the west and Ishkashim to the east in the Pamirs have sufficient road connections for movement of goods to population centers and the main road network within Afghanistan.  
The other four crossing points are at bridges built over the Pyanj River near Khorog, Vanj, Darvaz and Shurobad. Vanj and Shurobad bridge crossings have not yet opened though all customs facilities have been built. Only Aga Khan Focus is given to access to these two border crossings to deliver WFP food aid hauled in transit across Tajikistan after entering from Nijny Pyanj or Ishkashim. These four bridge border crossings service only local areas isolated from the rest of Afghanistan’s road network. 
Over 90% of trade between Tajikistan and Afghanistan is via Nijny Pyanj and Shehon Bandar crossing borders which is linked by a good highway through the Khatlon Valley with Dushanbe and within Afghanistan to Kunduz 60 km to the south. In 2004 the United States built a bridge at this crossing point to replace the river ferry as well as funding modern customs facilities on both sides of the border including a truck scanner on the Tajik side.  
There is a certain volume of goods from other countries that transit Tajikistan to the Nijny Pyanj / Shehon Bandar entry point. Monthly from 15 to 20 trucks of 25 to 40 mt operated by a single Tajik company, Tojiron arrive in Kunduz and beyond from China via the Kashgar – Murghab – Khorog – Kulyab corridor. There is an indeterminate amount of transit traffic from Kyrgyzstan and via Khujand province in the north.  
Ishkashim crossing has much smaller volumes of trade moving from Tajikistan. Chinese goods reach most of Afghanistan via the Karakorum pass through Pakistan and to Kabul so there are few if any large trucks transiting Tajikistan to Afghanistan via Ishkashim. The road from Ishkashim to Faisabad in Afghanistan still needs much improvement. It has been closed in 2013 and 2014 to personnel of international organizations due to security concerns. 
There is transit movement of humanitarian goods, mainly food supplied by WFP, from Faizabad, Afghanistan via Ishakashim and from Mazar Sherif via Nijny Pyanj to the Pamir region of Tajikistan for reentry into Afghanistan across the bridges at Khorog and Darvaz.

Corridor Mountain passes 

Kashgar – Nijny Pyanj via Murghab

Kashgar – Kyrgyzstan – Karamik - Nijny Pyanj 

Bishkek-  Karamik – Nijny Pyanj

Khujand – Nijny Pyanj

Bishkek – Murghab  - Khorog