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Expert: Zangezur corridor creates unique opportunity for Uzbekistan to accelerate its accession to EU

15 November 2025 14:47 (UTC +04:00)

Uzbek expert: The Zangezur Corridor opens new transit opportunities for Central Asia

The Zangezur Corridor opens new transit opportunities not only for Uzbekistan but also for the entire Central Asia and South Caucasus, said Nargiz Umarova, an expert at Uzbekistan’s Institute for Prospective International Studies, APA’s correspondent dispatched to Tashkent reports.

She said that Uzbekistan is one of the first Central Asian countries to support the opening of the Zangezur Corridor, and there are serious economic and geoeconomic reasons behind this position: “For Uzbekistan, access to open seas—even to intra-regional trade routes—is of strategic importance. The main goal for Uzbekistan is to accelerate access to promising markets, particularly the European Union, and to reduce transportation time. From this perspective, the Zangezur Corridor creates a unique opportunity. The opening of the potential route may shorten the distance to Europe for Uzbekistan by more than 300 kilometers. This figure may seem simple, but for specialists who understand the logistics sector well, it means a significant reduction in transportation costs and faster cargo turnover.”

The expert noted that increasing transit potential, doubling the volume of transit cargo, and reducing transportation costs are set as key objectives in Uzbekistan’s transport sector development concept until 2030: “For this reason, Uzbekistan’s open and consistent support for the Zangezur Corridor is not accidental. Uzbekistan has repeatedly expressed this position at SCO summits, meetings of the Organization of Turkic States, and other international platforms. The Zangezur Corridor opens new transit opportunities not only for Uzbekistan, but also for the entire Central Asia and the South Caucasus. This route will increase the freight capacity of the Middle Corridor and reduce overload on existing routes—particularly on the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway line and at ports on the Caspian and Black Seas. The geographical redistribution of cargo will not only increase the transit revenues of regional countries but also ease pressure on logistics infrastructure. In addition, serious steps are being taken to expand transit routes within the Central Asian countries themselves. In this regard, the opening of the Zangezur Corridor aligns with the interests of all regional countries.”