Business advocates a larger expansion of the North-South corridor than the Cabinet plans

Large logistics companies in Russia propose to at least double the capacity of the international transport corridor (ITC) “North-South” – from the design level of 30 million tons to 60 million tons of cargo per year, by creating a consortium with Arab investment funds. Such a proposal was made by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Delo Group of Companies Sergey Shishkarev during the round table of the XIV International Economic Forum “Russia – Islamic World: KAZANFORUM”. He estimates the total volume of joint investments at $18.5 billion euros.

The President of Delo Group of Companies presented an alternative concept for the construction of the North-South ITC, based on the expansion of railway lines leading to Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf. According to him, the volume of cargo transportation in the North-South direction will increase by 2030 not by 30 million tons, as predicted by the government of the Russian Federation, but up to 60 million tons. Moreover, in the next decades, the volume of cargo transportation in this direction will grow to 100 million tons by 2050. “We are already shipping 15 million tons of grain from Russia and Kazakhstan,” Shishkarev said. – This is 1 million tons of 25-foot containers. We see that by 2025 we will receive almost 2 million containers. With standard transportation by rail, this is already 36 million tons of containerized cargo.”

GC Delo advocated the expansion of the railway infrastructure of the North-South ITC, proposing to build a branch line with a wide gauge in parallel with the laying of the Rasht-Astara section with a narrow gauge. According to Shishkarev, with a larger volume of cargo transshipment, investments can be recouped faster than with a smaller one. “We see that a wide gauge that could run parallel to the Rasht-Astara section with access to the ports of the Persian Gulf is a project that pays off quickly,” he said. Negotiations on the creation of a consortium were held with the UAE, Qatar, Oman, he said.

Shishkarev estimated the state’s income in the form of taxes until 2050 at 20 billion euros, and the income of investors at 70 billion euros. “I ask you to look at the project more broadly and believe that with the construction of a broad gauge with access to the ports of the Persian Gulf, it can be considered the Suez Canal of the 21st century,” he urged.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said that the throughput capacity of the North-South ICT is projected at 30 million tons by 2030. This is twice as much as now (15 million tons). The state intends to direct investments from 250 to 280 billion rubles. until 2030. “We are forced to restructure logistics flows. By 2030, the cargo turnover along the North-South corridor should increase to 35 million tons, which is 155% compared to 2021,” he specified.

According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, in four months of this year, the volume of container traffic along the corridor has increased five times. The largest volume of traffic falls on road and rail transport along the western route (through Azerbaijan), less – along the eastern route through Turkmenistan.

In order to increase the throughput on land routes, the Ministry of Transport is reconstructing border inspection points. On the border with Georgia, the passage of goods will soon increase three times, and with Azerbaijan – seven times, Deputy Minister of Transport Valentin Ivanov said. On the border with Kazakhstan, 10 checkpoints are under reconstruction, new checkpoints are being built on the railway. To expand sea routes, dredging is being carried out in the Volga Delta in the Astrakhan region. “This year we will ensure the passage of ships with a draft of 4.5 meters,” Ivanov promised.

Presidential aide Igor Levitin explained why the implementation of the North-South ICB was started almost 20 years late. According to him, initially Russia signed agreements with India in 2005. But then the project did not develop. “We focused the cargo base on the ports of European countries. We have developed the ports of Hamburg and Rotterdam. Up to 400 million tons of cargo passed through the northwestern direction annually. Now we can’t go there,” he stated.