Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkey, and Eastern Europe have great industrial infrastructure potential for the development of a rail Middle Corridor. But without China’s geoeconomic policy push, there is therefore still little economic rationale behind the development of corridor

In 2022, Russian Railways was forced to respond promptly to the changes. During the year, loading in the direction of unfriendly countries fell by 37%, in the direction of friendly countries — increased by 23%, including by 28% — to China. This increased the demand for the Eastern Polygon.