Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Russia and Turkmenistan have signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of maritime transport, the Turkmen government reported.

The agreement was signed within the seventh meeting of the Turkmen-Russian intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation which was held in Astana on Sept.17.

The members of the joint commission expressed satisfaction with the agreement on cooperation in maritime transport sphere that was achieved at this meeting.

During the meeting the Russian side was represented by Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government Arkady Dvorkovich, who was also received by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

Russia holds a leading position in the ranking of Turkmenistan's largest trade partners. In recent years, Turkmenistan intensified cooperation with Russia's industrial regions, including Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Sverdlovsk and Astrakhan.

Over the past few years, the trade turnover between the Astrakhan region of Russia and Turkmenistan saw a ten-fold increase.

In early September Krasnoye Sormovo Plant (Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia) sailed away the tanker built for Turkmenistan and designed for the transport of crude oil and petroleum products. Earlier four tankers were built for Turkmenistan at this plant.

Turkmenistan intends to expand ferry carriages with Russia on the Caspian Sea through Astrakhan port of Olya.

The experts say that the direct railway-ferry communication between Russian ports of Olya near Astrakhan and Makhachkala and Turkmenbashi port could provide an increase in cargo traffic from Turkmenistan to Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Turkmenistan has begun construction of a new international sea port in Turkmenbashi on the Caspian Sea, designed to become a major hub passing through Turkmenistan international transit transport communications.