Development of the TRACECA Corridor in the Black Sea Region: Key Priorities for Cooperation Discussed

During the meeting, the sides held a substantive exchange of views on topical issues of the regional transport agenda, the strengthening of institutional cooperation between Ukraine and TRACECA, and the implementation of joint measures aimed at ensuring the resilience of logistics chains in the Black Sea basin of the Europe-the Caucasus-Asia corridor.

The Ambassador of Ukraine informed the Secretary General about the current challenges in the operation of the national transport system. Particular attention was paid to measures to restore the full functioning of port and railway infrastructure in order to ensure the unimpeded movement of trade flows from Asia to Europe via the Caucasus, as well as in the reverse direction, from Europe towards Asia.

Secretary General Mr. Jasurbek Choriev noted the importance of overcoming infrastructure barriers and of joining the efforts of the states participating in the transport corridor to this end. He also emphasised the significant role of the Black Sea region as a link in the common TRACECA transport corridor and the Middle Corridor as a whole.

In the course of discussing digitalisation and the harmonisation of standards, the sides commended the active role of Ukraine in the implementation of the TRACECA Basic Multilateral Agreement (MLA) and additional agreements on the facilitation of transit transport. The participants of the meeting noted the need to unify approaches to the creation of digital ecosystems along the transport corridor in order to ensure the necessary interoperability. Such interoperability can be achieved through the application of UN standards developed for the digitalisation of multimodal transport corridors.

In this context, the TRACECA initiative to establish regional Competence Centres in the TRACECA member states was also considered. The Ambassador of Ukraine supported this initiative, noting its importance for the development of digitalisation and the training of specialised personnel.

At the end of the meeting, the Ambassador of Ukraine invited the Secretary General of the PS IGC TRACECA to visit Ukraine at any convenient time.

Summing up the meeting, the sides expressed their shared interest in continued coordination of efforts to strengthen transit stability and improve the regulatory and legal framework, as well as in further cooperation. 

Background: 

Ukraine is an integral part of the corridor, having officially joined the programme in 1996–1998, and is one of the Parties to the Agreement on the Development of Multimodal Transport. In May 2026, within the framework of the XVIII Meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission in Astana, Ukraine became one of the first states to sign the Agreement on Single Transit Permit (STP) of TRACECA. This initiative is aimed at a full transition to electronic document flow in road freight transport, a reduction in carriers’ costs and a substantial strengthening of the transit and digital potential of the Black Sea region.