Problems of Development of East-West International Transport Corridors in the Caspian Region

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the problems of development of international transport corridors in Caspian region as a part of transcontinental logistic routes between east and west of Eurasia (primarily, between China and European market for Chinese goods). During last thirty years there has been a wide discussion of such corridors as an alternative for the routes via Russia. Since 2022, one can witness the activization of such process. The aim of the research in this context is to specify the current situation in development of such transport corridors in Caspian region as well as the influence of Silk Road Economic Belt realization. It can be concluded that, despite of all discussions, constructing the cross-Caspian logistic infrastructure proves to be very expensive, so that the coastal nations reckon on participation of external players such as EU, US and primarily China. However, infrastructure development still remains to be their ‘inside job’ while the biggest results one can witness is the case of Kazakhstan. Notwithstanding Kazakhstan’s efforts the busiest routes still lay to the north of Caspian region and go via Russia. Thus, connecting logistics systems of eastern and western coasts of the Caspian Sea remains a difficult task that cannot be completed without participation of Russia.