Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov, a video conference was held to discuss the reform of the transport industry, which was attended by the heads of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Transport, Uzbekistan Temir Yollari, Uzbekistan Airways, Uzbekistan Airports, the Agency for State Assets Management, the Agency for the Development of Public-Private Partnerships, the Antimonopoly Committee and other relevant departments and organizations.

The measures taken to develop the railway transport sector, which, in the context of a pandemic, are of strategic importance for the economy of the Republic, were critically examined due to the fact that, due to the restrictions on road transport introduced in a number of countries, the main flow of cargo transportation is currently carried out through railway communications. In January-July this year alone, the total volume of international rail freight traffic in Uzbekistan made up 17.8 million tons (an increase of 110% compared to the same period last year).

It was noted that despite the measures taken, systemic problems that hinder the development of this industry remains relevant: a high level of monopoly and a lack of a competitive environment, an opaque system of tariff setting, high operating costs, a low degree of digitalization of services, frequent supply disruptions and other factors.

Separately, the current situation in the aviation sector was considered, where there is an unsatisfactory dynamics of the expansion of geography and an increase in the volume of cargo transportation, as well as the lack of a unified development strategy and specific directions for the implementation of further reforms, which is aggravated by a sharp drop in the volume of passenger flights in the first half of this year due to the current epidemiological situation and a significant decrease in the income of the national air carrier.

In this area, problematic issues have also been identified, the solution of which is a prerequisite for further increasing investment attractiveness and ensuring the competitiveness of the aviation industry in Uzbekistan: insufficient airport capacity, low level of development of services, costs of civil aviation enterprises when importing aviation technical products from abroad, and inventory, not produced in the Republic, as well as high in comparison with other countries prices for service and fuel and filling materials.

Following the consideration of the reports of the heads of the relevant departments on the work done and the measures taken in these areas, targeted instructions were given to further improve the areas of railway transport and civil aviation.

In particular, the leadership of the Ministry of Transport and Uzbekiston Temir Yollari was instructed to develop a concept for a radical reform of the national railway system, which should include measures to attract private operators to rail transport to create a healthy competitive environment, improve transport processes and increase the transparency of tariff policy, introduce modern corporate governance and digitalization of work processes.

In addition, the heads of the Ministry of Transport, Uzbekistan Airways and Uzbekistan Airports were instructed to develop specific proposals for optimizing tariffs, improving the quality of services, developing cargo transportation and modernizing the relevant infrastructure, as well as expanding public-private partnerships in the field of civil aviation.