The Freeport of Riga Authority has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Uzbekistan’s national railway company, O’zbekiston temir yo’llari, to promote more efficient transport and foster transit potential.
The deal was signed during the visit of the Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan, Ilhom Mahkamov, to Latvia on 18 August.
Under the agreement, the parties aim to provide favourable and competitive conditions for import, export, and transit cargo flows between Latvia and Uzbekistan.
In addition, the cooperation will bolster the exchange of information on cargo flows and support for the development of international transport and logistics projects of both countries.
The parties further agreed to provide the necessary support for the preparation, organisation, and conduct of mutual informative events.
“The Freeport of Riga Authority’s work is targeted at strengthening economic cooperation with partners and developing cooperation in the field of information exchange, transit, logistics and goods transportation,” said Mārtiņš Ziemanis, Deputy CEO of the Freeport of Riga.
“We highly value our Uzbekistani partners and hope for active and mutually beneficial cooperation in the near future.”
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The Freeport of Riga announced it will post information about the port’s operation – including services, costs, conditions of cooperation and the relevant potential benefits – on the official website of the Uzbekistan Railways, with the aim to inform cargo owners and potential customers on the Uzbek side.
Until now, the cooperation of the port of Riga with Uzbekistan in terms of received and sent cargo has been changing and was mostly influenced by geopolitical conditions.
At the beginning of 2022, as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war and the need for new logistics routes, cargo turnover with Uzbekistan in the port of Riga has grown rapidly according to the port authority.
The investment plan for 2022 includes the clearing and dredging of the navigational waters at the port, various improvements to the port’s hydro-technical constructions, as well as the modernisation of several berths.
