Uzbekistan will be seeking to operate its own ferries in the Caspian Sea to expedite the international trade transportation, the Transport Minister Ilkhom Makhkamov told the Uzbekistan 24 TV channel.

According to him, the visit of the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Azerbaijan is of great importance not only for the economy and trade, but also for the development of transport and logistics ties.

“Because nowadays one of several corridors that carry out transportation from Uzbekistan — export-import trade and cargo transportation — is the Middle Corridor, which passes through Azerbaijan,” the minister said.

According to him, preferences for container rail transportation through Azerbaijan have been extended until the end of next year: “To date, we have extended the validity of the preference for container and rail transportation up to 70% until 2026 thanks to the visits of our president.”

Ilkhom Makhkamov added that Uzbekistan was preparing to launch its own ferries on the Caspian Sea to reduce cargo delays:

"We are also negotiating and working on operating ferries by Uzbek companies on the Caspian Sea, given that the level of cargo transportation across the Caspian Sea is rising - ferries are expected for 30-40 days, and cargo is delayed. Therefore, Uzbek companies, together with Turkish companies, decided to operate ferries on the Caspian Sea."

He added that the implementation of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project would provide additional transit volume between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan: "We have already agreed on expanding and modernizing the infrastructure - we are ready for this."

After the talks between the leaders of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, an exchange of bilateral documents took place in Baku

At the end of August last year, the President of Azerbaijan proposed cooperation in the framework of maritime cargo transportation, especially against the backdrop of the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.

"At one of the previous meetings, I told Shavkat Miromonovich that we are now entering the Black Sea region more actively. We have acquired 4 Aframax tankers. Well, not counting the fact that we had vessels in the Black Sea before. Therefore, if you are interested in this in the future, we can collaborate in the Black Sea on transportation, because the volume of orders there is quite large, and the difficulties of the Black Sea basin are now, as they say, known. Therefore, there are certain niches here where we could work together," Ilham Aliyev said.

The parties are also discussing the possibility of creating a joint logistics company within the Trans-Caspian Corridor and the construction of warehouses and logistics centers in Baku and ports of third countries.

In September last year, Trend reported, citing a source, that Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan were planning to set up joint production of ferries. The project's cost is estimated at $150 million.

It was reported in July 2023 that Uzbekistan plans to build and lease long-term sea terminals and warehouses in Georgian seaports.