A three-day ministerial on transport issues has kicked off in Batumi today. As Georgian Economic Development Ministry told Trend, the ministerial is attended by Georgian Economy Minister Vera Kobalia, Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine Borys Kolesnikov, Transport and Communications Minister of Lithuania Eligijus Masiulis, Transport and Road Infrastructure Minister of Moldova Anatol Salaru and Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Aleksandr Shishko.
The first day of the ministerial discussed issues related to the resolution of the agreement on the development of cargo transportation in the direction of the Baltic Sea - Black Sea (the "Viking" project).

The ministerial of such a high rank is held in Georgia for the first time. Its work involves chiefs of the railways, sea ports, airports and private shipping companies of Georgia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Moldova and Belarus.

As part of the ministerial Georgian Economy Minister Vera Kobalia will hold bilateral meetings.

The main goal of the "Viking" project is to reduce cargo transportation time between the countries of the basins of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, formation of competitive tariffs for cargo transportation and simplification (unification) of customs procedures. Georgia signed a corresponding agreement on March ۱۵, ۲۰۱۱.