Russia’s government-backed VTB Bank is working to raise financing for the International North-South Transport Corridor that links St. Petersburg with the Indian Ocean. The bank issued a statement which said:
“We estimate that the International North-South Transport Corridor can become one of the main transportation routes of Eurasia, providing an alternative to the Suez Canal, among other things, and opening up new economic opportunities for trade relations between the countries of the Global South.”
The statement, according to TASS, said VTB is ready to finance a feasibility study for the project that will be presented to Russian and international investors. Furthermore the Russian government has approved VTB’s proposal to establish a project-management office for the development of the corridor which will collect and analyze information pertaining to the construction of a 1,520-mm gauge railway all the way to the Iranian ports, and put together proposals to ensure uninterrupted freight traffic along the corridor’s rail route.
