EU hope for a new export route through the Middle Corridor, bypassing the Russian Federation, is unrealizable

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As the countries of the West, in particular Europe, scrutinize the horizon of opportunity in search of alternative routes for imports from the east, the role of Kazakhstan as an important player becomes very serious. This is written by a specialized resource OilPrice.

When goods start their journey west from China, they increasingly do so via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or the Middle Corridor as it is also called. The route also involves crossing the Caspian Sea, loading goods onto trains and trucks in Azerbaijan and shipping them onward to Georgia and Turkey.



In nine months of 2022, the volume of goods transiting the Middle Corridor almost tripled compared to the same period in 2021. Kazakhstan has increased its own exports along this route by eight times, according to the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route Association, or TITR.

Of course, the Astana authorities hope that this trend will continue. However, all this is easier said than done. The movement of cargo flows currently dependent on Russia further south is now severely limited by the lack of greater opportunities for key infrastructure such as railways, seaports, transshipment hubs and roads. The problem affects not only Kazakhstan, but also other countries of the Middle Corridor.

The transit infrastructure in Kazakhstan is generally in better shape and in a more orderly state than in the South Caucasus. Infrastructure limitations in Azerbaijan and Georgia are the main bottleneck of the route. Lack of space for loading and unloading cargo ships and congestion on rail routes cause chronic delays.

The hope of the EU for a new export route through the Middle Corridor, bypassing the Russian Federation, is unrealizable. Volumes are increasing, but not enough to replace the route through Russia. Any infrastructure changes, if the participants of the route want to make such changes, will be too expensive and long-term to implement. So there is no alternative to supplies from the east yet.
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  1. Sergey Latyshev
    Sergey Latyshev
    -3
    11 December 2022 09: 19
    What nonsense
    Recently, they wrote that the West is heavily invested in logistics through Asia.

    And to see the export route from Asia to Europe - all by sea. Giant bulk carriers that Asia rivets like seeds.
    Even Ali was brought to us like that and is being taken
  2. prior
    prior
    +2
    11 December 2022 09: 56
    A canal must be built from the Caspian Sea to the Indian Ocean through Iran.
    The sooner the better.
    There such money for transit can be raised!
    The shortest water route to India, China and South Asia from the Black, Baltic and Caspian Seas.
    Especially now. There will be where to use Ukrainian prisoners.
    1. Mordvin 3
      Mordvin 3
      0
      11 December 2022 10: 37
      Quote: prior
      A canal must be built from the Caspian Sea to the Indian Ocean through Iran.

      Pump water to Iran from the Volga? Yes, and sturgeon will swim there? No, there is no need for such a project.
      1. Vladimir Tuzakov
        Vladimir Tuzakov
        0
        12 December 2022 17: 05
        (Prior) Such a channel will be an order of magnitude longer than the Suez one and two orders of magnitude more expensive. ( See map) Therefore, such a canal will never be built. Here the railway connection is necessary and is already under construction, as well as the highway. I spoke about the Middle Corridor below.
  3. Anchonsha
    Anchonsha
    +2
    11 December 2022 12: 23
    Well, if the Gay Europeans themselves take up the creation of infrastructure for the transportation of goods in the South Caucasus, then it can and can be done. only who will allow them, and the territory itself is restless, the Heropeians themselves constantly fomented wars there on the borders of the Russian Federation. So gay European dirty tricks and meanness are returning according to the proverb

    ... do not spit in someone else's well, you yourself will have to drink sometime

    Even the PRC does not want to invest in the Middle Road, although it is much closer than through the Russian Federation
  4. Jacques sekavar
    Jacques sekavar
    +2
    11 December 2022 17: 51
    Foreign investments in Kazakhstan for 22 years are provided for in the amount of 25 billion dollars, and the main investors are the USA, the Netherlands and Britain. Their exploitative essence is clearly visible from the structure of investments, up to half of which are directed to the extractive industries, primarily oil and gas, and the rest to the so-called. "dirty" production, trade and finance - a typical picture of neo-colonial dependence and raw material appendage of transnational associations such as Shell, British Petroleum, Shnvron, which need oil and gas pipelines bypassing the Russian Federation to freely pump energy resources from Central Asian state entities
    1. Vladimir Tuzakov
      Vladimir Tuzakov
      0
      12 December 2022 16: 56
      The key to the Middle Route Corridor is Kazakhstan. The Russian Federation needs to work closely so that enemy investments do not capture key areas, production, and so on in Kazakhstan. It is especially important to prevent anti-Russian propaganda and other unfriendly encroachments, both pro-American and pro-Turkish. Here you should not hesitate with your investments and interactions. And most importantly, the government of Kazakhstan remained about the Russian one, to prevent the "Ukrainian option" from repeating itself, when US proteges were brought to power with a hybrid war. The PRC is interested in the Middle Corridor, only because of maintaining allied relations with the Russian Federation, it is not being developed quickly.