BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19. Uzbekistan supports Azerbaijan's initiative to open the Zangazur corridor, Deputy Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan Abdusamat Muminov told Trend in an exclusive interview.
As he pointed out, thanks to this project, the transportation of Uzbek goods through the territory of Azerbaijan will increase significantly.
"Uzbekistan has always supported and will continue to support Azerbaijan's initiatives to develop transport links. The Zangazur corridor is a very important project in this regard. According to our initial estimates, the Zangazur corridor will provide an opportunity for the transportation of about 5-10 million tons of cargo. The advantage of this transport route also lies in its geographical convenience. If other routes pass through the highlands, this corridor is more gentle, respectively, it becomes possible to transport more cargo in a shorter period. We hope that as soon as the Azerbaijani side completes its part of the work, our Turkish colleagues will also join in and complete the railway from their side. Further, the goods can be transported by road. Uzbekistan is always ready to support this project, and I am sure that we will increase the number of transported goods along this route," Muminov said.
The deputy minister added that Uzbekistan is currently actively working on the reorientation of its cargo in the Azerbaijani direction.
"Uzbekistan is reorienting cargo in the Azerbaijani direction, thus developing the potential of the [Trans-Caspian International Transport Route] Middle corridor. To date, we are very actively using the transport potential of Azerbaijan, the possibilities of the Baku International Commercial Sea Port, and in particular for the import of sugar," he added.