On July 21, the Chairman of the Russian State Duma Volodin stated that the Russian Meridian Highway project may start construction in the Tambov region in 2020, and the construction will be carried out in both directions to Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Volodin said: "There is an opportunity to start the project this year. During our discussions, we came to the conclusion that if construction starts from the Tambov region (a 158-kilometer section passes through the region), the construction can proceed in two directions: Russia The direction of the capital and the connection with Kazakhstan. The road from Kazakhstan is planned to connect to this road through Saratov Oblast."

Russia's first privately-invested highway "Meridian" project was approved by the Russian Prime Minister in July 2019. According to the design, the Meridian Highway has a total length of 1982 kilometers and will pass through Orenburg, Samara, Saratov, Tambov, Lipetsk, Orel, Bryansk and Smolens regions. Sk region. This road will become the Russian section of the Silk Road Economic Belt, connecting roads in China, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and European Union countries. The project cost nearly 600 billion rubles (about 9.4 billion US dollars).

Volodin pointed out that the government discussed the construction of the Meridian Highway last week. He said: "Investors are currently working on the project together with relevant government departments. According to me, the Russian Ministry of Finance should hold a meeting next week."

The Russian section of the European-Western China International Transportation Corridor currently has two roads in the design stage: the Meridian Expressway is entirely privately invested, and the Moscow-Kazan toll road М12 is funded by the state and the Russian state-owned road company Avtodor is responsible for the construction.

Mankiewicz, chairman of the Union of Russian Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said: The project should be able to integrate with China's Belt and Road Initiative and connect China's road network with Russia. The road shortens the delivery time of goods to 10 to 11 days. From a geopolitical point of view, it is very important to develop land transportation routes and shorten the delivery cycle in the context of increasingly tense relations with the United States.

The European-Western China Highway runs through Russia (St. Petersburg-Moscow-Kazan-Orenburg), Kazakhstan (Aktobi-Kizilorda-Shimkent-Almaty), China (Urumqi-Lanzhou) -Zhengzhou-Lianyungang) large-scale comprehensive investment project, with a total length of 8,500 kilometers, of which the Russian section is 2,192 kilometers, the Kazakhstan section is 2,787 kilometers, and the Chinese section is 3,181 kilometers. Editor/Huang Lijun