The Republic of Bulgaria has assumed the Chairmanship of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA

On October 21, 2021, the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) TRACECA was held in Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria via videoconferencing, during which the Republic of Bulgaria has assumed the Chairmanship of the IGC TRACECA.  

It should be noted that the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) was the first in TRACECA history held in videoconference mode.

The official representatives of the Governments of the Parties to the Basic Multilateral Agreement on International Transport for Development of the Europe-the Caucasus-Asia Corridor" (MLA), Permanent Representatives (National Secretaries) of the Permanent Secretariat (PS) of the IGC TRACECA in the MLA member-states, observers in the Intergovernmental Commission - the Republic of Lithuania and the Hellenic Republic, representatives of Turkmenistan as a participant of the TRACECA programme, representatives of international organizations and institutional structures, including UIC, IRU, BSEC, UNESCAP, CAREC Institute and TRACECA partners participated at the Meeting.

Within the official opening of the IGC Meeting, H.E. Mr. Hristo Alexiev, Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications of the Republic of Bulgaria welcomed the participants and guests of the meeting, expressing hope for the possibility of a live meeting in the near future.

“Our country will do its utmost for the duly implementation of the planned tasks during its Chairmanship of IGC TRACECA. We will work intensively on the main priorities, such as the process of further removing institutional and legal barriers to transport and international trade, the development of rail and road sectors, rail-and-ferry transport communications and sea routes, multimodal transport. We would like to strengthen the dialogue and cooperation with the European Commission in order to further develop the transport links between Europe, the Caucasus and Asia and deepen cooperation with the international organizations, ensuring the harmonization of requirements and standards for various modes of transport. Recognizing the latest trends in the development of world economy, the Bulgarian Government has focused its efforts on constructing a modern railway and road infrastructure along the “East-West” axis in order to create favorable conditions for the seamless movement of people and goods. The perspectives for the development of the road and rail infrastructure along the route of the TRACECA corridor are related to the establishment of a fast, coherent, seamless and secure transport connection across Europe and on the South-East towards Turkey, Central and Eastern Asia.” - Minister Alexiev noted.

During the meeting, H.E. Mr. Rashad Nabiyev, Minister of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan presented the results of the Chairmanship of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the period between the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Annual Meetings of the IGC TRACECA, noting the main directions of development.

"COVID-19 has magnified already existing challenges of regional transportation system integration and has driven countries and organizations to make their supply chain more resilient and collaborative. In this context, facilitating smooth movement of goods across borders has proven to be of key importance.  
TRACECA responded to the challenge by preparing “Harmonized Conditions for the Carriage of Goods Under the Spread of the Coronavirus Pandemic” aiming to harmonize restrictive measures, coordinate activities and thus, facilitate movement of goods across the borders of TRACECA member states. This exemplified TRACECA’s institutional agility facing extraordinary circumstances and demonstrated its ability to move quickly to address new challenges and opportunities. TRACECA comes to the fore as a successful example of regional integration mechanism" - Minister highlighted in his speech.

The Agenda of the Meeting included issues related to the development of the international transport corridor, including draft documents of the IGC: Harmonized Conditions for the Transport of Goods under the spread of the coronavirus infection pandemic (COVID-19), Agreement on a Single Transit Permit of TRACECA, Concept for the Development of Container Transport up to 2030, Methodology for Identification of the Routes of the International Transport Corridor TRACECA, Methodology of Evaluating Check Points, Review of harmonization and simplification of border crossing procedures between the MLA member-states, Digital Сoncept of the International Transport Corridor TRACECA.

In his report statement on the work done, the Secretary General outlined the main directions for the implementation of the strategic documents and resolutions of the IGC, as well as the measures and actions taken to improve the effectiveness of the Permanent Secretariat activities.

During the discussions, the IGC Meeting approved documents that are aimed at improving the work of Permanent Representations in the MLA member-states, as well as strengthening financial discipline and issues of institutional importance, including the Rules for Formation and Execution of the Budget of the PS IGC TRACECA, Rules of Procedure of the IGC, the Statute of the PS, etc.  

On the outcomes of the IGC, the final documents - the Sofia Declaration and the Final Resolutions of the Fifteenth Annual IGC Meeting were adopted.

For reference: TRACECA includes the transport system of 13 MLA member-states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan), united by the idea of developing the international transport corridor Europe-the Caucasus-Asia. In addition, Lithuania in 2009 and Greece in 2018 received the observer status in the IGC TRACECA.

The Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) operates in accordance with the Rules of Procedure. The decisions and recommendations adopted by the IGC determine the activities of the Permanent Secretariat of the IGC TRACECA, located in Baku. The Permanent Secretariat has the Permanent Representations in each of the MLA TRACECA member-states.

Final Resolutions of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the IGC TRACECA - 6 pages.
Sofia Declaration - 2 pages.
List of participants of the Meeting – 9 pages.     

Agenda – 2 pages.

Table of carrying out the activities for 2019-2020 of the Action Plan for 2018-2021 for Implementation of the Strategy of the IGC TRACECA for development of the international transport corridor Europe-the Caucasus-Asia for 2016-2026, developed on the basis of the TRACECA Master Plan and proposals of the MLA Parties – 56 pages.

Action Plan for 2022-2026 for Implementation of the Strategy of the IGC TRACECA for development of the international transport corridor Europe-the Caucasus-Asia for 2016-2026– 10 pages.

Review of the realization of the “TRACECA Regional Action Strategy on Maritime Safety and Security and Environmental Protection for the period up to 2021”– 11 pages.

Information on the implementation of the Final Resolutions of the IGC TRACECA in the period of 2010-2020 - 5 pages.

Status of TRACECA international agreements and documents - 1 page.

Information on the use by carriers of the TRACECA multilateral permits in 2020 for international road transport in the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 January 2021 - 1 page.

Appendix. Procedure of generating serial numbers of TRACECA Multilateral Permits issued by the competent authorities of the TRACECA Multilateral Permits System member countries for international road carriage of goods - 1 page.

Harmonized Conditions for the Transport of Goods under the spread of the coronavirus infection pandemic (COVID-19) – 3 pages.

Draft Agreement on Single Transit Permit of TRACECA - 7 pages.

Concept for the Development of Container Transport in TRACECA countries up to 2030 - 39 pages.

Methodology for Identification of the Routes of the International Transport Corridor TRACECA - 5 pages.

Review of harmonization and simplification of border crossing procedures – 17 pages.

Methodology of Evaluating Check Points - 13 pages.

Memorandum of Cooperation between the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA (PS IGC TRACECA) and the Association of Legal Entities “International Association “Trans-Caspian International Transport Route” (ALE “IA “TITR”) - 6 pages.

Memorandum of Understanding between the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA and the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States – 3 pages.

Memorandum of Understanding between the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA and the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation Institute (CI) - 6 pages.

Rules of Procedure of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA - 5 pages.

Statute of the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA - 8 pages.

Organizational structure of the PS IGC TRACECA - 1 page.

Digital Concept of the ITC TRACECA – 50 pages.


Rules for formation and execution of the budget of the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA - 8 pages.

Appendices to the Rules for formation and execution of the budget of the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA - 3 pages.

TRACECA Award Rules - 8 pages.