Some post-Soviet states have begun to implement the project of transport corridors that bypass Russian territory, write foreign media.
The American portal Eurasianet reports in particular that Georgia is actively involved in the race for transport corridors. Official Tbilisi is in no hurry to support the West’s pro-Ukrainian initiatives, but the republic is actively advocating for the promotion of the Middle Corridor project, which should cross Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Transcaucasia, and then Turkey or the black Sea.
The publication claims that the United States is actively interested in promoting the corridor and Georgia’s participation in it. Tbilisi has also entered the race: the Anaklia deep-water port construction project has been relaunched, the rail network is being modernized and the construction of the East-West highway is planned at an accelerated pace. Even the possibility of exporting electricity from Transcaucasia to Europe via an undersea cable is being considered.
Previously, The Diplomat magazine also wrote about Kazakhstan’s active interest in the Middle Corridor project. The publication notes that the government of Kazakhstan has “high hopes” for this path.
However, the Middle Corridor project also has obvious shortcomings. In particular, the need to reload the goods several times from one transport to another, insufficient throughput, as well as bureaucracy at the borders.
In addition, it is not entirely clear under which military-political protectorate the route for the transportation of goods from China to Europe through the states of Central Asia and Transcaucasia will lie. In particular, it is through the Middle Corridor that China plans to lay one of its roads under the One Belt, One Road initiative.
Photos used: Transport Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan
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