Aug.29 (EIRNS) — The Russian government has taken another step that points to serious consideration of the construction of the Eurasian Canal connecting the Caspian with the Black Sea. On July 29 the Russian Federation issued an order calling for the construction of a seaport on the Caspian Sea near the city of Lagan of the Russian Republic of Kalmykia. According to the order, the port will have the throughput of 12.5 million tons of cargo per year, including a grain transshipment terminal with a capacity of 5 million tons, a liquid cargo terminal with a capacity of 0.5 million tons, a container cargo terminal with a capacity of 5 million tons, a general cargo terminal 2 million tons. The port would cost $1.6 billion to construct. It would be the largest port on the Caspian.
The port would lie at the intersection of two major transportation corridors. One would be the north-south international transport corridor connecting Mumbai, India, via Iran and the Caspian, and St Petersburg on the Baltic. The other is an east-west corridor from Western China, through Central Asia, Russia’s North Caucasus, the Black Sea and into Europe. The government order calls for a rail link with the railway already leading to the Black Sea. The port also lies on what would become the entrance to the proposed Eurasian Canal the construction of which still awaits a final decision.
The port has strong backing by both China and Iran. China’s POLY Group and China Energy Engineering Group International, have agreed to invest in the port. The port is part of a big effort by both Russia and Iran to further integrate the Iranian and Russian economies, especially infrastructure. Earlier this month Russia and Iran signed an agreement to establish a container shipping route across the Caspian.
