At a meeting on July 21, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ordered the development of measures to attract 10,000 idle freight wagons from partner countries in cooperation with the private sector.

According to the head of state, 70% of the country's foreign trade cargo (46 million tons) is transported by rail. Despite this, entrepreneurs continue to complain about a shortage of wagons and problems in the freight system.

Since the beginning of the year, cement producers have not received 2,800 requested wagons. The president noted that the plan to produce an additional 1,300 freight wagons in the second half of the year will also not fully cover business needs.

Responsible agencies were instructed to prepare calculations within ten days on attracting 10,000 idle wagons from partner countries with private sector participation.

The meeting also noted that the Angren-Pap, Tashguzar-Kumkurgan, and Tashkent-Samarkand railway lines are operating with overload.

A task was set to reach an agreement with the World Bank by the end of the year to attract $200 million for the development of railway infrastructure.

The Prosecutor General's Office was tasked with auditing the use of funds allocated for expanding the freight wagon fleet, as well as studying the current procedure for providing wagons to entrepreneurs. Based on the audit results, proposals will be made to increase system transparency.

It is worth recalling that by 2030, Uzbekistan plans to build 151 km of new railways, electrify 182 km of existing tracks, modernize 27 stations and 100 km of tracks. Additionally, 15 new suburban routes are proposed to be opened.

Source: www.gazeta.uz