MYTH OR REALITY?

From Japan to Europe via the Sakhalins

Stanislav Goncharenko
Deputy Head of the Department of Economics
The Russian Ministry of Transport

         On the brink of the third millennium, the role of the Commonwealth's transportation system is significantly changing. Thanks to objective preconditions, the system will transform into a "locomotive" capable of invigorating industrial development, intensifying economic activity and of raising the living standards in many Russian regions. The development of international Euro-Asian transport corridors will provide solutions to global social-economic problems.
        All this is directly related to the fact that the world's economy has grown rapidly during these last decades. This includes a global division of world labor and correspondingly, a radical increase in the exchange of goods between different parts of the world. Industrial supplies have intensified and large markets are more competitive due to accelerated capital flow.
        "Door to door" cargo delivery with maximum reliability and cost effectiveness in minimum time is now especially relevant.
        World cargo flow is regrouping in a focused search for more effective routes, including Eurasian ones. At present, cargo travels between Asia and Europe through the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It takes 35 days to get to Europe from Japan through the Suez Canal. Reliable cargo delivery schedules depend on sea conditions. It is therefore not surprising that cargo owners are currently searching for alternative routes.
        World foreign trade exceeds 4-5 trillion dollars. In 1997, Japan alone had a turn over of 0.88 trillion dollars. The volume of foreign trade for the ASEAN countries was assessed at 0.72 trillion dollars for the same year. The European Community and the USA especially, are the leading world exporters and had a far greater trade movement. The exchange of goods between Europe and Asia makes up half the world's cargo. In 1998 alone, 6 million 20-foot containers were shipped between Europe and South East Asia. As a result, many countries are looking to create transportation corridors.
        Almost all Eurasian routes pass within the transportation networks of the CIS countries and primarily of Russia. A common policy in respect to international cargo is important not only for the CIS but also for the majority of countries in the world.
        Practically all CIS states have strong prospects for development based on a close interaction with each other. However, the most attractive routes for cargo owners cross Russian territory. By the year 2010, Russia could have the main portion of the Eurasian international freight flow thanks to its geographical location and powerful infrastructure which includes railway, motor and water transportation.
        The importance of this issue has moved the government to create a federal program for the "Development of International Transportation Corridors". This program envisions among others, two Eurasian transport corridors, "East-West" and "North-South," a "great European water ring," and the development of the "Northern Sea Route."
        The main route between Europe and Asia is the "East-West" wide corridor. Although there are several branches within the corridor, its general direction is latitudinal. The territory from the Russian Far East Coast to its western borders makes up the central section of this corridor. The eastern section covers China, Korea, Japan and other states of the Asian Pacific region. The western section includes European transportation corridors, Baltic waterways, the North, Black and Mediterranean Seas and the Danube and the Rhine.
        In order to increase freight handling capabilities for cargo shipped from or via Russia and in order to give the country autonomy, various ports are being modernized while new ports are being constructed on the Baltic, Azov and Black Seas.
        The backbone of the "East-West" international corridor is the Trans-Siberian Railroad thanks to which the Chinese northeastern provinces link to the town of Chita. Ulan-Ude is the starting point of another railway, which merges into the Trans-Siberian route that crosses Mongolia into inner China.
        The Trans-Siberian railroad covers three routes from east to west:
        Ekaterinburg-Perm-Nizhny Novgorod-Moscow, Ekaterinburg-Kazan-Moscow and Chelyabinsk-Ufa-Syzran-Moscow. In the European part of Russia, the railway network is supplemented with river ports, roads, and airports. Also promising for the "East-West" corridor is the Volga transportation system through which cargo can be carried to the Baltic, Black Sea, Mediterranean and Caspian regions. What's more, the Danube-Rhine water corridor further links the network with central Europe.
        Even now the "Transib" is capable of handling up to 100 million tons of cargo a year. This includes international freight with a total sum of 140 thousand 20-foot containers. With a complete modernization, up to one million cargo containers could be shipped through the "Transib" annually. This is still insufficient though, given the present cargo volume between Europe and Asia and the very rapid increase of export-import cargo from Asian Pacific countries. The construction of a railway-road "Europe-Russia-Japan" corridor is an especially important project for regrouping global cargo flows between Europe and Asia within the "East-West" corridor.