Uzbekistan Secures Tariff Benefits for Cargo via Kuryk Port

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have agreed tariff preferences for transporting fertilizers and petroleum products through Kuryk Port. The port has also approved preferential tariffs for transporting petroleum products from Uzbekistan to ports in Georgia, O’zbekiston 24 reported.

According to Bakhitkerei Alibekov, deputy general director of Kuryk Port LLP, the railway administrations of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan agreed on tariff preferences for the transit of fertilizers and petroleum products through the port.

Kuryk Port is located in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau Region and is one of the ports closest to the country’s southern regions and Uzbekistan. Following dredging works carried out in 2024, the time required to process a ferry at the port was reduced from 20 to 12 hours, while the cargo capacity of ferries increased by 500 tonnes.

Arman Zhakupov, executive director of the Aktau International Sea Trade Port, said about 50,000 tonnes of transit cargo and more than 1,700 containers were transported through the port toward Uzbekistan in the first half of the year. He said the port is open to Uzbek export and import cargo, while container trains can travel up to 1,000 km per day.

Jamaliddinkhuja Abdikarimov, Uzbekistan’s consul general in Aktau, said Mangystau Region, home to four ports, is important for providing Uzbek exports with access to European markets. Aktau Port has also provided Uzbek exporters with temporary storage warehouses.

The sides are also considering further development of container cooperation. Aitkali Nurmagambetov, director of the Aktau International Container Hub’s department, said there was potential for cooperation with Uzbek container terminals, including the Chukursay Container Hub.

The Aktau and Kuryk ports are part of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which connects Central Asia with the Caucasus, Turkey and Europe. According to the data cited, the volume of Uzbek cargo handled through the two ports increased by more than 60% in 2025.

Aktau is Kazakhstan’s largest maritime hub, with an annual capacity of about 12 million tonnes. Together with Kuryk Port, the combined capacity of the country’s maritime infrastructure is about 22 million tonnes.