Azerbaijan and Georgia digitise international transport permits on the Middle Corridor

The agreement on the electronic permit system (E-Permit) was concluded at a meeting held in Baku on 8 and 9 April 2026. A joint technical working group began integrating the systems on 1 May 2026, ahead of pilot shipments that validated how the system worked.

The two countries then moved to full implementation, exchanging a first batch of 3,000 electronic permits, split between bilateral permits, transit permits and third-country transport permits. Hauliers can now obtain these documents through an automated portal available around the clock, without having to visit government offices in person.

This digitisation is part of the wider modernisation of the Middle Corridor, the trans-Caspian route linking China to Europe via Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia, increasingly used as an alternative to routes crossing Russia. Azerbaijan also concluded a similar agreement with Kazakhstan on 25 June 2026 to switch entirely to electronic permits from 2027, raising their annual exchanged quota to 28,000 permits.

This affects road hauliers and freight forwarders moving goods by lorry between Azerbaijan and Georgia, or in transit towards Europe and Turkey via this corridor, rather than through Russia or by sea.