Protracted Hormuz Crisis Boosts North-South Corridor Importance – Lavrov
/ Go to the mediabankRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov delivers a joint statement after trilateral talks between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire, 10 October 2020
/ Go to the mediabank
The crisis around the Strait of Hormuz, which appears to be dragging on, is increasing the importance of the North-South international transport corridor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday. «The topic is indeed very important, especially in a situation where the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is dragging on, as it appears. The global economy and global transport routes are suffering from this,» Lavrov stated at a press conference following talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. Lavrov expressed optimism about the trilateral project involving Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, noting that Tehran has completed land allocation on the Rasht-Astara section, which had long prevented construction from starting. Railway chiefs from the three countries have discussed practical issues for beginning work, and progress is expected, he added. The North-South transport corridor is a multimodal route of about 7,200 kilometers (4,473 miles) connecting St. Petersburg to India’s Mumbai port. Russia and Iran signed an agreement in May 2023 to build the Rasht-Astara railway section, the last missing link of the corridor’s western route, with the project estimated at 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), of which 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) is a Russian loan.
EconomyArctic Takes on Special Significance Amid Hormuz Crisis — Rosneft CEO6 June, 10:29 GMT
