The article is devoted to the opportunities and risks associated with the implementation of Eurasian cooperation initiatives along the North-South axis. At the same time, the new initiative for the countries of Central and South Asia depends crucially on the incentives for the development of cooperation shared by the leadership of the countries involved in it; and the balance of positive and negative expectations is currently not unambiguously favorable. In a number of areas envisaged by the new initiative for the development of cooperation between the countries of Central and South Asia, the Russian Federation and its economic entities can act as promising non-regional partners. The involvement of Russian specialists in the work of new expert mechanisms can be an important step. This may be useful both for new business opportunities potentially opening up due to the development of cooperation between Uzbekistan and South Asian countries, and for discussing new regulatory initiatives and establishing contact with representatives of the business communities of the respective countries in order to fully build a new vector of meridional integration of the Eurasian space.