Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Dec.2 / Trend, H.Hasanov /
The Turkmen government plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an official Turkmen source said on Friday.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov signed the relevant order.
The document aims to carry out a shipyard construction project in Turkmenbashi. From the Turkmen side the document will be signed by the State Service of Maritime and River Transport.
It is expected that the new enterprise will encompass a developed infrastructure and modern technology and will undergo repair and maintenance of ships with different depths.
The need to construct the enterprise is due to increased traffic volume by sea transport and due to the fact that the Turkmenbashi sea port has become a major transhipment point in Turkmenistan's foreign economic relations, with the most important link being the international transit route from Europe via Caucasus to Asia.
In recent years, Turkmenistan has been actively engaged in creating its own tanker fleet with ships purchased from Russia and the Baltics. All of them are used for freight traffic along the Caspian Sea coast supplying crude oil from the Turkmen port points Aladja and Ekerem to the oil terminal in the Kenar settlement.
Large-scale reconstruction of the Turkmenbashi sea port which has international status is underway. The country has also followed the experience of free economic zones in the UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong. The Avaza resort town, announced by the authorities as the free economic zone is being formed on the Caspian Sea coast.