Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Feb. 5 / Trend , E.Hasanov/
Russian Railway President Vladimir Yakunin is visiting Ashgabat to discuss corporation and joint projects.
Turkmen President Gurbangulu Berdimuhammedov will receive Yakunin's delegation. Negotiations will be held at the Turkmen Railway Transport Ministry, an official source in Turkmenistan said.
Direct railway communication between Ashgabat and Moscow was severed in 1995. All passenger transport was canceled. Cargo transport was later halted and resumed.
Trade costs increased as a result as many businessmen opted for air transport.
Turkmenistan built a railway in 1996. The railroad connects the country with Iran along the Serakhs-Tejen-Mashhad route. Turkmenistan gained access to Persian Gulf markets after the railroad was opened. The Gorgan section is currently being constructed to connect Bereket and Uzen, Kazakhstan by 2011. The throughput capacity is an annual 10 million tons of cargo.
Trend reported that Turkmenistan and Russia aim to sign an intergovernmental agreement on direct railway-ferry communication between the Russian Olya Port near Astrakhan and Makhachkala and the Turkmenbashi Port. The new route could increase cargo traffic from Turkmenistan to Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus.
A similar agreement was signed in late November 2008 during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Turkmenistan. The sides inked an intergovernmental agreement to organize direct Turkmenbashi-Baku railway-ferry communication.
Berdimuhammedov supports increasing railway and sea cargo transport in the region.
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