⚓️ The Middle Corridor, which is also called the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, is not a new idea. 

It is based on an agreement that the national railway companies of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia signed back in 2013. That said, the Middle Corridor only attracted a significant deal of interest after the start of Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent imposition of ever-broader sanctions against Russia by the EU led European shippers to turn away from the Northern Corridor.

The Middle Corridor, a transport corridor meant to connect China to Europe via Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus, and the Black Sea, has received increasing attention and is often displayed as a main future thoroughfare and replacement for the Northern Corridor between China and Europe, which goes through Russia.

However, while efforts to develop the Middle Corridor are underway, there are also various questions; one uncertainty is to what extent Georgian Black Sea ports will be able to handle the increased cargo in a way that is economically viable.

Any successful development of the Middle Corridor will at best take years and at worst remain uncertain, Franz J. Marty writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/georgian-black-sea-ports-a-stimulus-or-stumbling/

#Multipolarity_and_Connectivity #transport #routs

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