BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 26. We hope to start using the Zangezur corridor soon, the first deputy chairman of the board of Uzbek Railways, Khikmatulla Rakhmetov, told Trend on the sidelines of the 83rd meeting of the CIS Council on Railway Transport in Baku.
"The Zangezur Corridor holds significant interest for Uzbekistan. This project will play a crucial role in the development of Uzbek exports and imports, as well as in facilitating the transit of cargo through our country en route to the Zangezur Corridor, and onward to Türkiye and Europe," he stated.
Rakhmetov emphasized that the corridor's implementation would yield two key benefits: First, it would reduce logistics costs, which would have a direct impact on carriers' expenses. Second, the volume of cargo transported in both directions is expected to increase. Consequently, Uzbekistan is very optimistic about the potential of this project.
"This is a long-awaited initiative; without exaggeration, it has been anticipated for decades. We are actively cooperating with our Azerbaijani colleagues on all key issues and hope to begin utilizing the new route to its full capacity in the near future," he added.
Meanwhile, on August 8, a joint declaration was signed in Washington in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. One of the points outlined in the document calls for the launch of the Zangezur Corridor ("Trump Route" or TRIPP), which aims to unlock regional communications. Furthermore, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia initialed an agreement on peace and interstate relations.