Pavlodar hosted the second international forum "Irtysh: River of Friendship, River of Development," bringing together delegations from Kazakhstan's Pavlodar and East Kazakhstan regions and the Abai region, as well as Russia's Omsk and Tyumen regions. The key topic was the potential use of the Irtysh River for cargo transportation, including to China, according to infohub.kz.
The forum began with a flower-laying ceremony at the monument to two scholar-friends, Shokan Ualikhanov and Grigory Potanin. Guests were then shown an exhibition by Pavlodar region entrepreneurs: large enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses displayed their products. Many participants exchanged contacts on the spot to establish possible supply arrangements.
At the plenary session, the sides discussed joint achievements and further ways to develop transport cooperation. It was noted that Pavlodar airport has already reopened after runway repairs. The forum decided to launch flights from Pavlodar to Omsk. In addition, construction is underway on a new bridge across the Irtysh that will shorten the route from Omsk to Astana by 60 kilometers.
"The second international forum 'Irtysh: River of Friendship, River of Development' brought together more than 150 representatives of regions of Kazakhstan and Russia, government agencies, business, science and the public. This is an excellent opportunity to discuss the potential of the Irtysh and identify new areas of interregional cooperation linked to the river. Today we face a concrete task — to form a modern transport and logistics cluster. As our head of state, Qasym-Jomart Kemelevich Toqaev, noted recently at the interregional cooperation forum in Omsk, Kazakhstan and Russia, which share the world's longest continuous land border, are destined by the Almighty to play a leading role in developing the transport and logistics architecture of the Eurasian continent," said Asain Baikhanov, akim of Pavlodar region.
Pavlodar region remains a major industrial center of Kazakhstan: it produces 42% of all electricity, 60% of coal, 56% of ferroalloys and 100% of aluminum, while the region grows 74% of the country's buckwheat, 25% of potatoes, 32% of carrots and 21% of sunflower. Trade between Pavlodar region and Russia exceeded $1.6 billion in 2025. Both sides note that cargo delivery could be partly shifted to the Irtysh.
"Kazakhstan today is our region's main foreign trade partner. Cooperation covers key sectors of our economy — agriculture, machine building, petrochemicals and logistics. Transport accessibility is certainly important for all these sectors. Today we will hold a round table dedicated to this very topic. We have invited carriers and potential exporters interested in the Irtysh route. In total, our Omsk region delegation numbers more than 50 people — both government officials and business representatives," said Omsk region governor Vitaly Khotsenko.
As part of the forum, the sides discussed real possibilities for using the Irtysh to transport goods, its environmental problems, and the potential to shorten the delivery route for products from Russia to China via the river. The delegations were also given a steamboat tour, shown the Pavlodar embankment and the bridge under construction across the Irtysh.