During the visit of the Minister of Transport and Communications of Kyrgyzstan Tilek Tekebayev to Turkmenistan on December 1-3, the countries discussed the possibility of opening a new international multimodal corridor to Russia through the Caspian Sea.
During his visit, the Kyrgyz Minister Tekebayev on Thursday held a meeting with Annadurdy Kosayev, the head of the Agency for management of sea and river transport of Turkmenistan Türkmendeňizderýaýollary, and on Friday the talks with Mammethan Chakiyev, the General Director of the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Turkmen Cabinet of Ministers.
The overland part of the new route will run from Kyrgyzstan through Uzbekistan to the Turkmenbashi International Seaport in Turkmenistan. Then, it is proposed to transport cargoes by sea to the Russian port of Astrakhan, according to the press release issued by the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday.
The Kyrgyz Minister said the Russian side is ready to provide ferries for this transport corridor.
"Initially, it is planned to send 50-60 vehicles daily from the Turkmenbashi port to the port of Astrakhan,” Tilek Tekebayev said, adding that at later stages, they envisage the transportation of more transport varieties and organization of container transportation.
The Turkmen side supported the idea of organizing the new route and said it was ready to consider preferential rates for port services for transit cargo. Annadurdy Kosayev suggested several alternative routes for the delivery of goods from Kyrgyzstan.
In a meeting, Mammethan Chakiyev and Tilek Tekebayev also discussed the possibility of concluding a Memorandum between Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia on the use of the route to Russia through the port of Turkmenistan, the fees levied on Kyrgyz vehicles when passing through the territory of Turkmenistan and addressed the issue of Turkmen visas for Kyrgyz carriers.