After its commissioning, the throughput capacity of the Aktau port is expected to increase from the current 140,000 to 240,000 TEU per year, reports "Kazakhstan Railways."

More than 100 units of special equipment have been involved in the hub's construction. The work is being carried out around the clock in two shifts.

In the port of Aktau, a 24-hectare area has been cleared, and more than 313,000 tons of soil have been delivered to the site. Vertical planning work is 65% complete.

The railway administrations of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have agreed to extend the contract for the operation and maintenance of the "Hairatan – Mazar-i-Sharif" railway, according to Uzbekistan Railways.

The national company did not specify the exact duration of the extended agreement.

Meanwhile, Sogdiana Trans LLC, a subsidiary of Uzbekistan Railways, will remain the operator managing this railway line.

The American marketplace eBay has officially registered with Uzbekistan's tax authorities to pay value-added tax (VAT), the State Tax Committee of the Republic reported.

Previously, Amazon, Apple, Google, Netflix, Zoom, and 58 other foreign internet companies had also registered with the special tax office in Uzbekistan.

In the first nine months of 2024, these internet companies earned 850 billion soums ($65.4 million) in Uzbekistan and paid 102 billion soums ($7.8 million) in taxes.

This is double the amount collected during the same period in 2023.

Private Uzbek airline Qanot Sharq (IATA code: HH) has announced the temporary suspension of some flights to Russia.

From January 20 to March 6 there will be no flights to Moscow from Tashkent, Bukhara, Namangan, Samarkand and Fergana. The carrier will also stop flying from Namangan and Samarkand to St. Petersburg.

The airline explained such measures by the need to withdraw two Airbus A320 airplanes, which were used on Russian flights, for maintenance in the form of C-check.

The airliners will go for labor-intensive maintenance one by one, so they will not be able to fully support all Russian destinations.

The carrier uses the rest of its aircraft - two Airbus A321neo and a wet-leased wide-body A330 - on routes to the Middle East and Asia.

A small containership docked in Turkey’s main container port lost stability and rolled onto its side this morning, December 23, during the loading operation. Port officials are working to contain the damage and clean up from the vessel.

The vessel named Amnah (5,200 dwt) was loading containers at the Ambarli Port in Istanbul when it started listing toward the dock and eventually rolled onto its side. The incident was reported at 0400 local time and in the videos crewmembers can be seen on the deck.

Turkish officials reported there were 15 crew aboard and that five jumped into the water and swam to safety. The other ten were rescued from the vessel. One crewmember suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital.

The ship was built in 1996 and was operating until recently for Russia’s Fesco shipping company. Databases reflected it transferred owners to a company in Belize as of October 2024 and is managed from Turkey. The ship is registered in Comoros.

Officials believe the vessel was improperly loaded causing it to lose stability. They reported an investigation would be undertaken to determine what happened during the loading process.

A containment boom was strung around the vessel to prevent pollution.