Geopolitics, in a recent piece entitled “Why Does Kazakhstan Matter to the EU?”, said: “The energy-rich country recently offered its Caspian Sea ports of Aktau and Kuryk, as well as 22 airports, to European investors for management to build a strong transit hub between Asia and Europe… On January 29 in Brussels, at the Global Gateway Investors Forum for the EU – Central Asia Transport Connectivity, Kazakhstan and the European Union signed four memorandums worth over 800 million euros (US$865.7 million). One of the goals of these deals is to further develop the Middle Corridor, also known as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), given that it represents an alternative to the existing East-West routes”.
The author of the above publication, Nikola Mikovic, also mentioned that about 85% of goods in transit on land from China to Europe are transported through Kazakhstan. It might be added here that the significance of the Mangystau province where the Caspian Sea ports of Aktau and Kuryk, which are seen as key to developing the Middle Corridor (the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route), are located, is not limited to its potential as an important transit hub on the way from East to West.
It, together with Atyrau and West Kazakhstan provinces, which are also located in Western Kazakhstan, is among the three major – if not the only three – suppliers of those tens of millions of tons of oil that the Republic of Kazakhstan delivers to the EU every year. This means that it is about one of those provinces to which Kazakhstan owes its fame of being ‘among the top exporters of oil to the countries of the European........© Eurasia Review