Aliyev Visits Tbilisi as Armenia–Azerbaijan Trade Via Georgia Hits Records

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's rare official visit to Tbilisi this month has put a political frame around a commercial reality already reshaping the South Caucasus: bilateral Armenia–Azerbaijan trade is running through Georgia at record pace, and Tbilisi is collecting the transit rent.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze called the visit a "new stage" in trilateral cooperation. Behind the diplomatic language is a hard logistical truth. Every tonne of Azerbaijani fuel shipped to Armenian buyers, every wagon of Kazakh grain routed through the Caspian, and every future container moving on the TRIPP route will pass through Georgian territory. That makes Tbilisi the indispensable partner in a regional economy that is systematically reducing Moscow's leverage.

Rail freight between Azerbaijan and Armenia through Georgia has already begun, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed. Armenian officials are finalizing a list of industrial and agricultural exports to Azerbaijan, while Baku is routing Kazakh and Russian wheat to Armenia via its rail network onto Georgian tracks. Sources cite Georgia Today.

The commercial logic is simple. The Baku–Tbilisi–Kars corridor was renovated specifically to carry this kind of volume, and the planned TRIPP route through southern Armenia will add redundancy. Georgia's 2026 real GDP expanded 8.4% in the first two months of the year, driven in part by transport and logistics — a number the IMF has flagged as structurally tied to cross-border trade flows.

For investors, the signal is clear. Georgian port, warehousing, and fleet operators stand to gain as the Middle Corridor thickens, and three-way customs harmonization is moving faster than skeptics predicted. A senior regional economist told OC Media the transit premium is already showing up in terminal bookings.

Aliyev's Tbilisi stop also carried an energy subtext. Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye and Bulgaria are building a "green" electricity corridor that Romania has signaled intent to join. The cable project dovetails with the SGC gas flows already transiting Georgian territory, layering electricity export revenues on top of hydrocarbon transit fees.

The broader picture: the South Caucasus is functioning, for the first time in three decades, as a genuine trilateral economic unit rather than a patchwork of frozen disputes. That re-rating has yet to be fully priced by foreign investors, but the deal flow around ports, rolling stock, and grid interconnection suggests it is coming.

Further Reading

• Azerbaijan Gas Exports to Europe Up 56% as TAP Expansion Starts
• TRIPP Corridor Implementation Framework Armenia 2026