MONITORING RESPONSE TO COVID-19 ALONG THE REGIONAL TRANSPORT NETWORKS

COUNTRY PROFILE: TURKMENISTAN1,2 General information Party to the Intergovernmental Agreement on Yes the Party to the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Yes Trans-Asian Railway Network Party to the Intergovernmental Agreement on Dry Yes Ports

SECTOR POLICY MEASURES SOURCES In accordance with the notification of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of 20 March 2020 in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus from 20 March to 20 https://turkmenistan.mid.ru/posol- April 2020, the crossing of the state border of Turkmenistan is limited to citizens stvo-soobsaet/- of Turkmenistan, foreign citizens and stateless persons. On 14 April 2020, this /asset_publisher/4Bhg73SaUSXm/c restriction was extended until 20 May 2020. ontent/ob-ogranicenii-peresecenia- gosudarstvennoj-granicy- turkmenistana-grazdanami- turkmenistana-inostrannymi- grazdanami-i-licami-bez- GENERAL ON grazdanstva?redirect=%2Fposol- FREIGHT stvo-soobsaet&inheritRedirect=true TRANSPORT 14 April 2020 https://favt.ru/novosti- aktualnaja-informacija/?id=6398 https://favt.ru/public/materials//4/6/3/ 6/8/46368afdff9324a80de885b66d0 d0611.pdf The Government of Turkmenistan has implemented enhanced screening and https://tm.usembassy.gov/covid-19- quarantine measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. All travelers should be information/ aware that they will be required to provide a medical certificate indicating that they are COVID-19 free in order to enter Turkmenistan.

1 DISCLAIMER: the following overview of the transport-related measures has been prepared by the secretariat based on the information collected from official governmental sources and specialized press. Even if is continuously updated, due to the fluidity of the situation, it may not reflect the latest status of the measures. If you would like to share your first-hand information on the current situation, your submissions are welcome. While they may not be directly reflected in the country profiles, they will form the basis for our policy analysis and advice to the Governments concerned. 2 12 June 2020 MONITORING RESPONSE TO COVID-19 ALONG THE REGIONAL TRANSPORT NETWORKS

According to the information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan 1 April 2020 (note verbale dated 03/31/2020 No. 04/291350) from 1 April to 1 May 2020, the http://bamap.org/information/news/2 crossing of the state border of Turkmenistan with international road freight 020_04_01_118157/ transport, including the following transit through the territory of Turkmenistan, is banned. 5 June 2020 https://www.asmap.ru/detail- In addition to the previous information, on 3 June 2020, the Permanent Mission of news/20200605-turkmenistan- Turkmenistan to the United Nations Office at Geneva confirmed that all cargo tekushchaya-situatsiya-v-svyazi- operations are carried out at the border until 20 June 2020, and the validity of s-rasprostraneniem- these conditions can be extended. koronavirusnoy-infektsii

In view of the easing of coronavirus restrictions, the Turkmenistan and Iran have 1 June 2020 agreed to restart road and rail traffic as of 10 June 2020 provided that facilities will https://business.com.tm/post/5572/v be in place for disinfecting cargo. Vehicles must pass 26-meter-long tunnels ehicles-pass-through-disinfection- through a 70-centimeter deep pool of disinfectant liquid – in effect, a sheep dip for tunnels-at-customs-checkpoints-of- trucks. turkmenistan Iran and Turkmenistan have inaugurated on 9 June 2020 a joint border bridge 9 June 2020 facilitating bilateral trade between the two neighboring countries in Sarakhs. The https://caspiannews.com/news-

bridge is 96 meters long and 15.1 meters wide, and it is the second joint border detail/iran-turkmenistan-inaugurate-car-

development project which has been constructed to expand and develop transit bridge-2020-6-10-3/ INTERNATIONAL and increasing road transport. ROAD TRANSPORT As part of the measures, taken to prevent the entry and spread of the new type of 24 March 2020 the coronavirus COVID-19 into the territory of Turkmenistan, the Turkmen side https://www.asmap.ru/detail- decided that starting from 24 March 2020, the transport of goods, arriving at the news/turkmenistan-nota- country by road through the checkpoints "" and "" on the state ministerstva-inostrannykh-del- border of Turkmenistan and moving further to Turkmenistan, as well as in transit turkmenistana-ot-23-marta-2020- through its territory, will be carried out by Turkmen freight carriers. In this case, goda-08-289141 the transfer of goods, that are in a car trailer or semi-trailer, from a foreign freight carrier to a Turkmen freight carrier, will be carried out in specially designated https://www.asmap.ru/upload/iblock/ places on the state border, provided that they are transferred without contact. f96/f9652f8fa3bd46d2eecfd8a5edb2 6d36.pdf The Turkmen side informs that foreign automobile freight vehicles, arriving at the Turkmenbashi International Seaport until 1 May 2020 (inclusively) may leave car trailers or semi-trailers in specially designated areas on the territory of the Turkmenbashi International Seaport for their subsequent transportation to Turkmenistan or transit through its territory by Turkmen freight carriers. Owners of foreign vehicles need to ensure their return together with drivers back through the sea.

MONITORING RESPONSE TO COVID-19 ALONG THE REGIONAL TRANSPORT NETWORKS

In addition, the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan to the United Nations Office at Geneva further informs that starting from 24 March of this year, all types of cargo, arriving at the Turkmenbashi International Sea Port, including transit ones, must be sent by sea vessels in trailers and semi-trailers without vehicles, drivers and persons, accompanying the goods.

Freight rail transport didn’t stop working during the pandemic although it had 30 April 2020 negative impact on the operations. The volume of freight traffic by railway between https://www.dknews.kz/inner- Turkmenistan and in the 1st quarter of the year amounted to 272 960 news.php?id_cat=27%20&&%20id= tons of various cargoes. This is 31,451 tons less than the same period last year. 86902 During this period, 105 trains (4725 wagons) arrived from Turkmenistan, carrying 27385 tons of cargo, and 97 trains (4392 wagons) with a cargo volume of 255 574 tons were sent from Kazakhstan. According to railway workers, today, Kazakhstani products are sent through the Bolashak station bordering with

Turkmenistan - wheat, flour, grinding products, barley, oats, lentils. Currently, INTERNATIONAL goods are transported in the direction of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Also, RAIL TRANSPORT through container border station Bolashak, container transit trains operate on the route Altynkol - Bolashak - Serkhetyaka - Akyail. On this route are transported auto parts, electronic equipment, household goods. Turkmenistan Railways has made possible to buy online tickets by using Altyn Asyr or Senagat payment cards. The e-tickets will be available for purchase via a 12 June 2020 special application, developed by Turkmenistan Railways for Android and IOS https://menafn.com/1100314199/Turkm operating systems. enistan-Railways-offers-to-purchase- tickets-online The Government of Turkmenistan introduced special measures for delivery of 30 March 2020 goods to the international seaport of Turkmenbashi. https://www.asmap.ru/detail/turkmen istan-poryadok-dostavki-gruzov-v- mezhdunarodnyy-morskoy-port- turkmenbashi?sphrase_id=59747&c ode=turkmenistan-poryadok- SHIPPING dostavki-gruzov-v-mezhdunarodnyy- (INTERNATIONAL) morskoy-port-turkmenbashi https://www.asmap.ru/upload/ibl ock/rules-and-procedures-of- cargo-delivery-to-the- international-seaport-of- turkmenbashi.pdf MONITORING RESPONSE TO COVID-19 ALONG THE REGIONAL TRANSPORT NETWORKS

As of 6 March 2020 a number of foreign passenger airlines, including Turkish 6 March 2020 Airlines, S7 and Fly Dubai, canceled flights to Turkmenistan. https://www.hronikatm.com/202 0/03/flights-cancellations/ Flights to Turkmenistan are suspended. This does not apply to repatriation flights 17 March 2020 of nationals and residents of Turkmenistan. Passengers are required to have a https://www.icao.int/safety/Page health report from the health organizations of the country they are arriving from. s/COVID-19-Airport-Status.aspx The report must show that they have undergone the Coronavirus (COVID-19) check and been tested negative. On 11 June 2020 Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation reached an 12 June 2020 AVIATION agreement to exit the restrictions regime on air flights caused by the pandemic. https://www.fmgnews.info/71781 (INTERNATIONAL) and Moscow agreed to open the sky according to the list of destinations -turkmenistan-i-rf-dogovorilis- and departures from the territories of Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation. otkryt-nebo-dlya- The parties also agreed on the number of designated carriers and the volume of aviapereletov.html frequencies performed on mutually agreed airlines, between ports on the territories of the two countries. https://turkmenportal.com/blog/2 7819/turkish-airlines-obyavili- Turkish Airlines will reportedly resume flights to Ashgabat from 1 July 2020. datu-vozobnovleniya-poletov-v- Turkmenistan’s own ban on international air traffic is set to elapse on 20 June turkmenistan 2020.