The agreement on the implementation of this project was reached by the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov and the Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maxim Reshetnikov.
The launch of the Agroexpress project, which provides for regular and fast delivery of agricultural products in a refrigerated train from Tashkent to Moscow, is planned in November.
The meeting of the co-chairs of the Uzbek-Russian Intergovernmental Commission (IPC) on economic cooperation, Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov and Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maxim Reshetnikov took place in Tashkent on September 26, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation reported.
At the meeting, the results of joint work on the Agroexpress project were announced, which provides for regular and fast delivery of agricultural products in a refrigerated train on the Tashkent-Moscow route.
"Now the preparation of the project is at the final stage. We have worked out procedures for the most seamless and fast passage of goods, as well as special tariff conditions for railway transportation, " Maxim Reshetnikov said. — We expect that the first pilot delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables from Uzbekistan will take place in November this year, and Agroexpress will start running on a permanent basis in December."
According to the head of the Ministry of Economic Development, in the future this will help to provide the Russian domestic market with high-quality products in the off-season and will contribute to ensuring food security and price stabilization. "Russia will export the products of its agro — industrial complex to Uzbekistan with the same railway trains," Maxim Reshetnikov added.
Speaking about the work of the intergovernmental commission, Maxim Reshetnikov said that most of the instructions that are of a long-term nature are actively being worked out by the relevant departments of Russia and Uzbekistan. "Among them were important issues that have not been resolved for a long time. They are related to trade barriers, excise taxes that were levied when importing Russian products to Uzbekistan, and the construction of a number of facilities. As of today, they have been resolved, " he stressed.
Another topic of the meeting was the issues of preparation for Uzbekistan's accession to the World Trade Organization. Maxim Reshetnikov expressed the readiness of the Ministry of Economic Development to provide expert support to Uzbek partners. It was decided that a meeting of the working group on Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO will be held in December.
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