THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TRANS-CASPIAN INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT ROUTE

by Ágnes Bernek

THE WAR IN UKRAINE HAS FUNDAMENTALLY REARRANGED THE ROUTES FOR TRANSPORTING GOODS BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA. EUROPE AND CHINA BOTH HAVE VESTED INTERESTS IN DEVELOPING THE MIDDLE CORRIDOR, ALSO KNOWN AS THE TRANS-CASPIAN INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT ROUTE.

Up until the Russian-Ukrainian war that began on 24 February 2022, 95 per cent of rail freight traffic between Europe and China was carried along the Eurasian Northern Corridor (China-KazakhstanRussia-Belarus-Poland-Germany- France-Spain). The key advantage of this main transport route is that within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, there is a customs union and a single economic zone (in terms of freight transport) between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

The economic sanctions against Russia and Belarus also apply to traffic transiting through these countries, meaning that an increasing share of rail freight is beginning to shift to the emerging Eurasian Middle Corridor. Its route enters the European continent from China, via Kazakhstan, through the

Caspian Sea and the South Caucasus, Türkiye or the Black Sea. This transport corridor is also known as the Trans-Caspian route because of the section crossing the Caspian Sea.

Freight transport via the Middle Corridor is still a fraction of what it used to be via Russia and Belarus, with a capacity currently equivalent to only 5 per cent of the main Eurasian Northern transport route. At the same time, on account of the war, the demand and the need for the substantial development and use of the middle route by carriers is increasing.

The author is a senior research fellow at the Eurasia Center of John von Neumann University, and head of the Geopolitical Research Group

The EU enjoys the benefits of the bypass route

The European Union has promoted the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor as an alternative to the traditional Northern route for the Europe-Asia railway shipments which crosses Russia. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced in last November that they would put billions of euros into the creation of freight paths between Europe and Asia which do not go through Russia.