Construction has started on Ashgabat – Turkmenabat highway which will connect Turkmenistan’s south and east of the gas-rich country. The construction of the highway will be carried out by Türkmen Awtoban closed joint-stock company, the member of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan. The construction work of the highway was inaugurated near the capital Ashgabat.
The further connection of the 600 km long and 34,5 meter wide new highway to the Ashgabat – Turkmenbashy highway is expected to pave the way for the direct exit of freight flows coming from the east of Turkmenistan to the International Port in the Caspian coast in the west of the country and further by sea to the Caucasus, Europe, Southern Russia, the north of Iran, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
The Türkmen Awtoban CJSV, the general contractor of the megaproject, has hired “Nusaýýollary”, “Hyzmat merkezi”, “Oguz ýoly” and “Altyn nesil” private Turkmen companies as subcontractors. The construction of the highway started at the 24th kilometer of Ashgabat – Dashoguz road. The electronic payment terminals, traffic control services and other public facilities will be located at the entry and exit points. The project includes construction of technical service centers along the $2.3 billion highway scheduled to be commissioned in December 2023.
As part of the large-scale project to revive the Silk Road and connect the economies of Eurasia, Turkmenistan has previously carried out and participated in the construction of Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan – Iran transnational railroad, automobile and railway bridges across Amudarya River, Kerky – Imamnazar – Akina (Afghanistan) railroad, Serhetabat – Turgundy (Afghanistan) railroad, and the new Turkmenbashy International Seaport. The cross-country Ashgabat – Turkmenabat highway will be an important part of this multimodal logistics system.
