HOME Regions Jewish Autonomous Region 27.06.2014

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Russia will participate in the revival of the Great Silk Road - the initiative of China

Transsib and BAM on the plans of Minskostokrazvitiya will serve trade flows from west to east and from east to west.

Russian railways and the Northern Sea Route can contribute to China's initiative to revive the Great Silk Road. Russia is ready to take over the commodity flows from the APR countries to Europe within the framework of this project.

The very project of the Silk Road implies a combination of eastern, southern, central and western Asia with various types of economic cooperation and transport routes from East to West. It implies the formation of a single market space, stretching from Europe to Asia.

Last year, President of the Republic of Korea Park Geun-hye proposed the creation of the Silk Road Express, which would connect South and North Korea, China, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. The President of South Korea proposed to unite energy infrastructures, create a single system of gas and oil pipelines, this will ensure their uninterrupted operation.

On the Russian side, the project to revive the Silk Road is supported by the Minister for the Development of the Far East, Alexander Galushka.

“The Silk Road has played a historically important role in the cognition of each other by different countries and civilizations, in world trade and economic development. If you look at the history of Russia, our country has always successfully played the role of a bridge between the countries of Europe and Asia. Therefore, the revival of the Silk Road is spiritually close to the mission of Russia, which it has been fulfilling historically. This is a powerful basis for the active, active participation of Russia in the revival of the Silk Road, A. Galushka believes. "In the modern global world, the revival of the Silk Road is not the revival of the geographical strip of the route that existed many years ago, but the formation between Asia and Europe of modern, economically verified, transport corridors that carry the same purpose as the route."

Economically beneficial for the revitalization of the Silk Road will be the support of the APR countries by Russia's projects to expand transport flows - the reconstruction of the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Mainlines, the minister believes. To this end, the Russian government has already allocated $ 18 billion. In addition, work is underway to connect the Trans-Korean Railway and the Trans-Siberian Railway. The bridge "Nizhneleninskoe-Tongjiang" (EAO) was built and built across the Amur River, new airports and bridges are being reconstructed and built.

The key link of the future Silk Road is the bridge transition in the Jewish Autonomy to China. The construction of the railway bridge, a long 2,2 km, began in the beginning of the spring of this year. It will be created on the principle of public-private partnership. Of the entire length of the bridge, Russia will lay only 309 meters, for these purposes will be spent about 9 billion rubles.

“It is assumed that a priority development zone will be created on the site of the future bridge. However, for now this is only a project. Private investment from the Russian and Chinese sides will be about 6 billion rubles. The capacity at the first stage will be 5,2 mln. Tons of cargo per year, at the second - around 20 mln. Tons, ”said Natalia Novoselova, the spokesperson of the JAR Government, told EastRussia.ru.

Construction will be completed in 2016 year. Through this bridge it is planned to transport iron ore, timber products, mineral fertilizers, coal and other industrial goods.

In order to open a wider path to the bridge, the Birobidzhan-Leninsk railway section will be reconstructed. Work to expand the carrying capacity of the line will begin in 2015 and end in 2017. 8,3 billion rubles will be invested in the project. Now the preparation of design estimates is underway. This is necessary in order to ensure export supplies to China from the Kimkano-Sutar mining and processing plant under construction in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The GOK will produce 8,3 million tonnes of ore concentrate. In the first year of its operation, it is planned to produce 2 million tons of concentrate, in the second - 3,6 million tons. 3,1 million tons will be shipped to Tongjiang.

“According to the information of the Far Eastern Regional Directorate of Traffic Management, the carrying capacity of the Birobidzhan-Leninskoe branch will increase by more than 2 times - from 7 million tons to 15,6,” said Inna Pepelyaeva, head of media relations at the Corporate Communications Service of Far Eastern Railways, told EastRussia.ru.

Experts are confident in the benefits of the project for Russia. “Considering that the“ new ”Great Silk Road according to the plan will pass through the territory of Russia, our country will play the main role in its creation. Most likely, a significant proportion of funding will be made at the expense of the budget of the Russian Federation, which also means one of the main roles of our country in this project. However, it is worth noting that the financing scheme and the distribution of shares among the project participants is the main stumbling block, ”said analyst Investkafe Roman Grinchenko.

The expert expects that such a project will significantly improve the economic condition of the regions through which the route of this project will pass. In particular, as a result of a significant increase in freight traffic, the level of infrastructure will increase and a significant number of new jobs will be created related to servicing transit flows, which will increase revenue to the budget.

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"This will also increase the trade turnover between Russia and China, as improving the logistics infrastructure will reduce the cost of importing products from China. For January-March 2014, Russia's trade turnover with China grew by 2,2% y / y, to $ 21,7 billion due to the growth in exports of raw materials from Russia. However, China's share in the entire foreign trade turnover of the Russian Federation for January-March 2014 was only 11,4%. For comparison: the EU accounts for 49,7% of the total foreign trade turnover of the Russian Federation. It is hardly possible to talk about turning the Russian Federation towards China, but such a project will certainly have a positive impact on commodity turnover between our countries, because the main problem for its growth is the low population density at the border between our countries and the difficult transportation of goods due to poorly developed transport infrastructure, which will help to solve the implementation of this project, - R. Grinchenko believes. "The main beneficiaries of the development of relations will be oil and gas, coal and forestry, as well as metallurgy and the pipe industry."

The Great Silk Road is the most important project for China, because through Central Asia, and possibly through part of the Russian territory, it is most convenient for them to get to Europe. And China is doing a lot for its implementation, says Elena Kuzmina, head of the economic development of the post-Soviet countries of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“Partial participation in these projects makes it possible to develop not only the Russian Far East, but also the Siberian regions of Russia. Among Russian goods that can go along the Silk Road to Asia or to Europe there may be various types of industrial goods, a certain part of the resource base, including liquefied gas, as well as cereals - for example, wheat, which is in demand in China and Central Asia - told E.Russia.ru E. Kuzmina. “From my point of view, Russia should participate in these projects, if only based on the fact that it can create a part of the way on its territory, which means create new jobs, and make it possible to attract investment in the Far East and Siberia.”

"Another question is how to build work and what kind of labor to attract. If Russia invests in Russia's infrastructure (and this assumes that China will bring its labor force), then certainly for Russia this will have some economic effect, but using the Chinese labor force will say that we are rebuilding the region not so much actively. After all, it is important not only the availability of a ready infrastructure, but also an increase in the population and the quality of life of Russians, "the expert noted.

“So everything will depend on what the contracts will be. If we look at the countries of Central Asia in which such projects are taking place, then Chinese companies are investing in transport infrastructure. But Russia is far from the countries of Central Asia, Russia is a large economy. For example, the contract for the connection of the Trans-Siberian Railway with the Korean highway is quite a profitable project, because here we are talking about connections with North and South Korea, - E. Kuzmina is sure. - If we talk about the reconstruction of BAM and Transsib, this will certainly help Russia to take part in the Silk Road, but, first of all, it is about restoring life along all these roads, because for us the biggest problem is that Russia has no territorial equilibrium. Linking domestic Russian development issues with the global project of the Silk Road gives impetus to the development of Russian territories. ”

The section of the railway Rajin (North Korea) - Hasan (Primorye) is already working. Head of the International Center for Regional Development Igor Melamed believes that this area can be used as a transport hub.

"On the basis of the railway and the Trinity Bay, you can organize a transport hub. This is of interest for Russia, North Korea and South Korea. In this area, it is possible to organize a container flow between the northeastern provinces of China and Russia. Koreans are also interested in supplying electricity, "Melamed told EastRussia.ru.

In addition to land transport lines, the Ministry of Eastern Development proposes to use the Northern Sea Route to deliver goods from Asia and to Europe and back. A. Galushka noted: "For example, the cost of delivering cargo from Shanghai to Rotterdam is on average reduced by 25% compared to the route through the Suez Canal."

"Solving the large-scale national task of the 21st century for the rise of the Far East, we stand for active cooperation and fair competition in servicing commodity flows from Asia-Pacific countries to Europe. Russia has objective competitive advantages in this issue, our practical goal is to create the most favorable conditions for realizing these advantages in Russia, and to implement successful investment projects, "Minister A.Halushka quotes the website of the Ministry of Regional Development. - We look forward to a constructive interaction with China and other partners from the APR, based on economically sound reasons. This is the guarantee of successful cooperation and prosperity of our countries and peoples. "

Text: Alexey Petruk