1,250-mile road through Russia that will provide the shortest route to move goods between Europe and China is approved by Moscow
- Privately financed road will run from the Belarus border to Kazakhstani frontier
- Construction has already begun and is expected to take around 12 to 14 years
- It is the brainchild of Alexander Ryazanov, former deputy chairman of Gazprom
- Hoped the road will shorten trucking routes between western China and Europe
A new 1,250 mile road through Russia has been given the go-ahead, creating the shortest route to move goods between Europe and China.
The privately financed Meridian Highway, now approved by Moscow, will run from the Belarus border to the frontier with Kazakhstan.
Construction has already begun at the Russian end and is expected to take around 12 to 14 years to complete – costing an estimated 600bn roubles (£7.5bn).
The Meridian Highway (in green) will form part of a Western Europe-China Highway (in red), which will stretch around 5,000 miles and ultimately connecting the ports of Hamburg and Shanghai
At the western end, the four-lane highway will enter Belarus close to Smolensk, halfway between Moscow and Minsk. While at the eastern end it will enter near Sagarchin on the Kazakhstani border.
It is the brainchild of Alexander Ryazanov, the former deputy chairman of gas giant Gazprom, who already owns roughly 80 per cent of the land the road is expected to run through.
It is hoped the road will shorten trucking routes between cargo hubs in western China and central Europe and offer a faster alternative to three existing rail corridors – including the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Suez Canal.
The road is expected to offer a faster alternative to three existing rail corridors, including the Trans-Siberian Railway
Russian politician Dmitry Medvedev is reported to have approved the first phase of the project, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. It will be funded as part of a partnership between private investors with state support.
Sergei Sanakoyev the head of the Russian-Chinese Analytical Center, told The Moscow Times that he believe the highway is economically justified and can create more jobs and new transit revenue sources for Russia.
‘The question is whether or not Ryazanov has enough financial and administrative resources and the right people,’ he said. ‘I don’t see it now.’
The road will form part of a Western Europe-China Highway, which will stretch around 5,000 miles and ultimately connecting the ports of Hamburg and Shanghai.