34 GEOGRAPHY Initiative. trans-Eurasian route thatincludestheEurasiaCanal. viathisnew Sea, willbetransported ontheMediterranean ,whichhave ports ofthe Caspian region. ofthecargo Chinaandthecountries trafficbetween Asignificant part ofthe andothercountries more than200thousandjobsintheSouthofRussia,Kazakhstan anditwillleadto theemergence of andgasexport, willsignificantly increase non-oil andBlackSeabasin. Caspian SeaandtheAzov oftheEurasia The completionofconstruction Nursultan Nazarbayev, in2007madea Accordingly, thePresident ofKazakhstan, Black Searegion. theCaspian and than 75milliontons, linking system bymoreof theunilateral transport suggests theneedto increase thecapacity potential freight baseofCaspiancountries Moreover, market. world theanalysisof accessto theconvenient transportation huge economicpotential, doesnothave geographical features, thisregion, whichhas and otherresources; however, dueto the inhydrocarbonsof water onourplanet,rich The CaspianSeaisthelargest enclosedbody Vol. 10,No1,p. 33–41 Prosperity for theCaspianRegion. Geography, Environment, (GESJournal), Sustainability * 2 1 Nuraly S.Bekturganov Fax: +7(495)9547305.E-mail:[email protected] Sivtsev Vrazhek, Moscow 119002,. Tel.: +7(495)9542611. Fax: +7(7172)210840.E-mail:[email protected] 24, RepublicAvenue, Astana 010000,Kazakhstan. Tel.: +7(7172)210840. CITATION: KEY WORDS: ABSTRACT. INTRODUCTION DOI FOR THE CASPIAN REGION OF ECONOMIC PROSPERITY THE EURASIA CANAL AS A FACTOR

Advisor to thePresident oftheRussianAcademy 29/16, ofNaturalSciences; First Vice NationalAcademy President ofNaturalSciences; oftheKazakhstan Corresponding Author : 10.24057/2071-9388-2017-10-1-34-43

Bekturganov N.S.,BolaevA.V. (2017) The E

The Eurasia Canal is a proposed direct water transport connection between the between connection The EurasiaCanalisaproposed water direct transport Eurasia Canal, Caspian Region, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, EurasiaCanal, CaspianRegion,The BeltandRoad Russia,Kazakhstan, 1 , Arasha V. Bolaev 2 * Russia... 2007]. powers” [Annual Address of thePresident of status andallows themto becomemaritime this qualitatively changestheirgeopolitical that isto the Mediterranean, World but Ocean, accessto theBlackSeaand countries basins notsimplygive“would CaspianSea Seathe CaspianSeaandAzov-Black between connection a newwater transport According to RussianPresident Vladimir Putin, theEurasia Canal... 2007]. [Nazarbayev: astheEurasiaCanal which becameknown Seabasin,ashippingcanal the Azov-Black theCaspian Seaand between connection proposal to create adirectwater transport urasia CanalasaFactor ofEconomic of oilayear, couldbeinterested increating processing of20–25milliontons capacity refineries intheBlack Seabasinwithatotal as “Lukoil” and “KazMunaiGaz”, whichown per year. Thus, for example, suchcompanies oil andproductsinexcess of50milliontons of ofthesystem forcapacity the transportation products, there willbealack offreight transit ofoiland projects for thetransportation absence ofimplementationnewmajor fewindicate decades, thatinthenext inthe the forecastsystems ofexpansion oftransport production’s volume intheCaspianregion and andoil A comparative analysisofoilreserves 2010]. cubicmeters intheCaspian[Volkov, trillion have beenestimated atapproximately 8.3 400 billiontons). Potential naturalgasreserves 6–10 %oftheworld’s oilresources (270to approximately 24–26billiontons, whichis shelf. wereThe oilreserves estimated at than 250promising oilfieldsonthe Caspian and gasfieldsproved and identifiedmore products. There have beenmore than20oil region to theBlackSearegion are oiland from theCaspian that needto betransported ofgoods types Some ofthemostimportant European Union[Bolaev, 2016a]. Chinaandthe between will betheshortest –EurasiaCanaltheBlackSea” as theroute – China–Kazakhstan “Western oftheOneBeltandRoadinitiative,spirit projectisconsistent withtheconstruction The EurasiaCanal as RussiaandKazakhstan. basinandEurope,the Mediterranean aswell fromand enterprises Central and West Asia, investment projectsofChinesecompanies and otherinfrastructure, andimplementing oftransport especially intheconstruction for developing economiccooperation, the SilkRoadEconomicBeltisastrategy “One BeltandOneRoad”. The conceptof forming thestrategic conceptofthe creation oftheSilkRoadEconomicBelt, President XiJinpingsuggested thejoint Chinese September 2013,inKazakhstan, In N.S. Bekturganov, A.V. Bolaev THE EURASIA CANAL AS A FACTOR OF ECONOMIC... SOURCES OF CARGO in terms oftheadditional volumein terms ofnominal in theregion [Bolaev, 2015]. This contribution, economic growth andimprove thetaxbase andwillsignificantly toindustries contribute creation ofabout200thousand jobsinservice sector.paid, inthemanufacturing means It about 32thousandnewjobs, mostlyhighly oftheEurasiaCanal willcreatedconstruction as awhole, suggeststhatcompletion of andtheCaspianSearegion Kazakhstan social development oftheSouthRussia, oftheprojecton Analysis oftheimpact Eurasia Canal[Bolaev, 2015]. through the transportation cost bywaterway system ismore thandoubletheestimated through theexistingtransportation (Turkey) andIzmir the citiesofAktau(Kazakhstan) example, thefreight costofwheatbetween materials, coalandotherlocalproducts. For and otheragricultural products, construction includes ferrous andnonferrous metals, grain oftheCaspianregion.other countries This and Regions), Kazakhstan and Astrakhan Stavropol andKrasnodar Territories, Rostov andDagestan,(Republics ofKalmykia fromoil related theSouthofRussia exports project) would significantly increase non- ofthe withintheframework constructed along thenavigable route, whichcanbe infrastructure (involving thequay system Black Seasbasins, andtheincludedport and theCaspianSeaandAzov between connection systems. Efficientwater transport byexistingpipeline cannot betransported hydrocarbon processing productswhich ofgoods, including allkinds can carry contrastto pipelines,In water transport 2009]. [Alekhova, has beenestimated at20–25milliontons ofhydrocarbons,associated withtheexport of Europe basinnot andtheMediterranean ofCentral Asia countries andthecountries andtheother Kazakhstan the tradebetween The annualexistingcargo traffic, representing even atthepresent time Seabasin Caspian SeaandtheAzov-Black the between connection a water transport

[Volkov, 2010]. [Volkov,

35 GEOGRAPHY 36 GEOGRAPHY example, intheStavropol region in2014, of theintended route ofthewaterway. For the RussianFederation, located inthevicinity intheregionsthe SouthofRussia,primarily of ofgoodsfromEurasia Canalistheproduction ofthepotential cargo ofthe part An important viatheEurasiaCanal. corridor transport new servicing cargo port, the mostimportant 2014], butsurely itwould beableto become corridor “TRACECA” ofAktau, Seaport [The focused on operations oftransport primarily For ofAktauiscurrently example, theport infrastructure alongtheCaspianSeacoast. Black Searegions isthedevelopment ofport theCaspianSea andthe between connection viadirect water transport transportation for thepotential additionalcargo for the factorAlso, undoubtedly animportant vialandroutes. to betransported likely Baltic States, Poland, , etc., are more to the from Kazakhstan goods transported viaEurasiaCanal. Respectively,transported reverse direction,mostprobably would be or to Italy Tunisia,from Kazakhstan orinthe cargo, for whichistransported, example, transportation. Therefore, itisassumedthat compared to railroad andautomobile Eurasia Canal, whichisfarmore competitive sea andbetter timingofcargo shippingvia havecountries aconvenient outletto the transport. Thus, thesenderandrecipient advantageous thanthestandard railroad isfarmoreAs transport arule, 2009].at 17.2–23.6milliontons [Alekhova, railways from 2008to 2010canbeestimated byKazakhstan The cargo traffictransported revenues [Bolaev, 2016b]. transit ofChinesegoodsandtherelated tax and increasing significantly revenues for the sectors, benefitingagricultureall industry region potential ofalmost byincreasing export oftheCaspian andothercountries Kazakhstan effects brought to theeconomiesofRussia, to considerthepositive Besides, itisnecessary estimated atapproximately US$3.9billion. according to theIMFassessment,canbe GDP oftheRussianeconomy in2015, GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY 01(10)2017 sources intheregion. facilitiesandadditional cargonew industrial be asignificant oftheemergence factor of oftheEurasiaCanal itselfwould construction However, into we accountthatthe didnottake of theEurasiaCanal. construction Aktau after of would beloadedonvessels intheport ofUkraine, through theports transported whichwere the RepublicofKazakhstan, highprobabilitythatthegoodsfromvery 2012]. (1.1 milliontons) [Il’nitskii, There isa million tons) and2.3%from othercountries (9.6 milliontons), 5.7%from Belarus(2.7 (34.2 milliontons), 20.2%from Kazakhstan total amountofcargo transitwasfrom Russia forcountries; example, in2011,71.8%ofthe from other ports transit through Ukrainian ofcargostudy isthedataonstructure Another interesting componentofour from easttois alsoprimarily west. ofmovementdirection ofthist oftheCaspianregion.other countries The and Azerbaijan South ofRussia,Kazakhstan, asraw inthe material) (and notexported growing share ofhydrocarbons processed This volume would increase withthe estimated at25–50milliontons peryear. Current oilandproductcargo canbe would bemainlyfrom eastto west. basins, ofmovement andthedirection Seathe CaspianSeaandAzov-Black betweenvia thedirectwater connection by pipelines, may exceed 45milliontons products from theRepublicofKazakhstan ofhydrocarbon transport already-existing Canal, cargo Thus, thecompletionofEurasia after oftheproject. aspart is constructed system along theroute oftheshippingcanal through theEurasiaCanalifquay walls of theRussianFederation, may betransported Stavropol region, aswell asfrom otherregions was [Cherezo, 2014]).Goodsfrom the Stavropol... 2015](asarule, themainimporter [The tons from thisamountwasexported 2015].Approximately[Vladimirov... 4.5million about 8.7milliontons ofwheatwere harvested traffic notdirectlyrelated to the ype ofcargo This way will be considerably shorter andThis way willbeconsiderablyshorter Canal, onehalfofthisway will bebywater. oftheEurasia theconstruction Union. After way ChinaandtheEuropean between the EurasiaCanalislocated ontheshortest Canal [Bolaev, 2015]. The proposed route of oftheEurasia construction after Kazakhstan ofRussiaand via territories be transported ofthiscargo volume cansignificant part exceeds 45milliontons. Therefore, a (Italy, France, Greece andothercountries) European oftheMediterranean countries Chinaandthethe annualtradebetween of cargo. According assessment, to expert annually handlemore than7billiontons According to recent data,Chineseports [Bolaev,to Chineseports 2009]. are comparablewiththedistancesfrom them provinces ofChinato theCaspianSeacoast The distancesfrom thecentraland western distance from Chinesecitiesto thecoast. costs, the whichreflects transportation tradeisrailwayof goodsinSino-European ofthecost land area andasignificant part bythesize intheworld ofthird country even around Meanwhile Chinaisthe Africa. entire Eurasiancontinent,andsometimes transport. The vessels have to goaround the outbymaritime China andEurope iscarried at present timealmostalltradebetween shouldbenoted thatthe EurasiaCanal. It the newtrans-Eurasianroute thatincludes via Seawillbetransported Mediterranean ontheEuropean Union,whichhave ports ofthe Chinaandthecountries between ofthecargo trafficthat asignificant part At thesametime, there isahighprobability for theCaspianregion. to considertheEurasiaCanalasavitalproject should goaround theCaspianSea)allowus in thelandarea affected (becausetheroute and, inthiscase, theincreasetransportation) (primarily, of theprice the water transport lackofadvantagesoverof construction, to theEurasiaCanal;however, thecost several railroads, may represent analternative 60 milliontons ofoilperyear, inadditionto An oilpipelinewithathroughputof capacity N.S. Bekturganov, A.V. Bolaev THE EURASIA CANAL AS A FACTOR OF ECONOMIC... revenue annually. approximately US$4.822 billionexport economy would receivethe Kazakhstan goodsannuallybyrail,of Chineseexport 25milliontonsaverage. transporting By container holds14tons ofcargo, on about US$2,700assuming thatone tofrom Aktauwould Alashankou be ofastandard containercost oftransport the of Kazakhstan, through theterritory costsofrailfreight long-term Considering 2016]. [Wang, development ofregional economy inChina trade andwould play acatalyticrole inthe inSino-European multimodal transportation also have oninternational apositive impact wouldof thecentralregions ofChina.It and for thedevelopment oftradelogistics and openingoftheChina’s western regions favorable conditionsfor thedevelopment from Chinato Europe, anditwould create safea comfortable, andhighlyeffective route through theEurasiaCanalwouldcorridor be the in long-term Trans-Eurasian transport of Sinohydro concludethat Corporation 43–51 milliontons by2050. The experts would be24–30milliontons by2030and Canal, theannualtrafficmentionedabove With theopeningofEurasiaKazakhstan. ocean route ofRussiaand to theterritories in diverting factor Eurasia Canalwould beanimportant research oftheSinohydro the Corporation, increase significantly. Thus, according to the would traffic through RussiaandKazakhstan cargoof theEurasiaCanal, Chineseexport theopening showthatafter Corporation on thisissuebytheChineseSinohydro particular,In theresults oftheresearch draws attention ofmany Chineseexperts. The issueoftheEurasiaCanalconstruction of China. Union from the Western andCentral regions oftheEuropean to thecountries export of theEurasiaCanalwillallowincrease of water transportation. The construction will becomparableincostdueto theuse faster than theoceanroute; besides, it Chinese transittrafficfrom the

37 GEOGRAPHY 38 GEOGRAPHY of water, including theManych (another River isalready coveredof Azov by several bodies Chogray Reservoir, theentire way to the Sea On thewestern slopeofthewatershed seasons). process indry locking water resources floodsandsupply during may accumulate (thisreservoir Reservoir to thewatershed inthearea oftheChogray . Then theroute ofthecanalascends Sea onitscoastnearthetown ofLagan in withtheCaspian Eurasia Canalcanbelinked of thecanal[Bekturganov etal, 2009]). The depth dependingontheselected 800 km, (includingseasections,upto 750– kilometers isestimated at650–700 without seasections general, thelengthofEurasiaCanalIn are used.construction latest technologies world ofshippinglocks on theEurasiaCanalcanbeminimalif of fresh water neededfor sluicingprocess water supply[Bolaev, 2008]. The volume option for theEurasiaCanal’sas theprimary Volga to theCaspianSea)canbeconsidered fromtens theconfluenceof ofkilometers into theCaspianSea,butitremains fresh for the Volga-river (fresh water river already flows the area ofstablefresh water inthedeltaof slope.on theeastern The water feeding from pressure orsixlow-pressure shippinglocks slope andacombinationofthree medium- shipping locksoflowpressure onthewestern overcome ofthree through theconstruction sloperepresentseastern abarrier, butitcanbe on thewestern slopeand54meters onthe Caspian Seaswithaheightofabout27meters basins. and The watershed theAzov between andBlackSeas the CaspianSeaandAzov between mean creating waterway adirect oftheEurasiaCanal The plansofconstruction Canal. to assessthemainparameters oftheEurasia geographical features oftheregion allowus bytheEurasiaCanal, and can betransported The estimated volume ofcargo traffic, which GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY 01(10)2017 AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT PARAMETERS OF THE CANAL the Azov andBlackSeasbasins. Accordingthe Azov the CaspianSeato connecting transport ofwaterway including theimpact impact, studies ontheissueof environmental appropriate to conduct important it isvery thedesignDuring stageoftheEurasiaCanal, the vessels passingthrough theEurasiaCanal). doesnothave River sufficientdepthfor (butasalready River the Don mentioned, the of theEurasiaCanalto the lower reaches of River.the Don The alternative is theconfluence Seaand notrelatedflowing into theAzov to River.of theDon would beaseparate canal It venture, completely unrelated to themouth would seemto beamuchmore opportunistic A completely separate project constructive ifnecessary). reservoirs reducing themineralizationlevel ofthese possibleon theecosystems andmaking water bodies(for example, to avoid impact atasomedistancefromconstructed existing canbe (by deepeningthem),orthewaterway andreservoirs the existingman-madelakes options: theroute ofthecanalcanpassthrough the EurasiaCanal. However, there are stilltwo offor ofthewestern section construction suitable thevalleyofManych very make presence Depression oftheKumo- Strait intherelatively recent pastandthe Subsequently, theexistence oftheManych [Paleohydrological 2011]. Reconstruction... features Depression oftheKumo-Manych ago, forming themorphological structure andBlackSeasbasinsthousandsofyears Azov theCaspianSeaand which connected oftheancientManych Strait, characteristics Manych istheresult River ofthehydrological ofthevalley geomorphology West Manych valley. The current state ofrelief and Depression, mostlyrepresented bythe Eurasia Canalislocated intheKuma-Manych geomorphological terms, theroute ofthe In andRepublicof Kalmykia. of theManych Waterway intheRostov oblast, createdreservoirs, theconstruction during and andman-madelakes of theDon) name isthe West Manych,tributary aleft N.S. Bekturganov, A.V. Bolaev THE EURASIA CANAL AS A FACTOR OF ECONOMIC... primarily focused primarily onusingalready the existing parameters oftheshipping canalwas et al, 2009]. The analysisofpossible technical about 10thousandtons ormore [Bekturganov “river-sea class” vessels withdeadweight of community, asarule, proposes theuseof parameters oftheEurasiaCanalscientific thepossibledesignWhen determining into account”taken 2010]. [Volkov, whentheopinionofecologists isDistrict, Federalinfrastructure project intheSouthern is the EurasiaCanalproject “probably thefirst Academy of SciencesDr. Sergei Berdnikov, ScientificCenterthe Southern oftheRussian of to theopinionofscientific secretary h et ftefiwy659.3 6.5 8 63 750 million USdollars 2.5–3 7.15 of2016,including18% Annual operatingcosts(theprices VAT), VAT), 8 billionUSdollars of2016,including18% cost(theprices Estimated construction 48 24.0 duration ofthenavigation is280days peryear) 750 2.5–3 Cargo throughput, milliontons peryear for (if eachdirection 226.0 5.0 The widthofthecanalatlevel ofthedepthfairway The depthofthefairway 18.4 164 icebreakers) The durationofthenavigation, days peryear (ifnousingof The timeofvessel passingthecanal, days ofshippinglocks Quantity The lengthofthewaterway tons sand metric Deadweight ofvessels capableofusingthewaterway, thou- Vessel m draft, Width ofthevessel, m Length ofvessel, m aaeesTp fvse Type of vessel 2 Type ofvessel 1 Parameters Table 1. Possible design parameters of the Eurasia Canal Eurasia the of parameters Table design 1. Possible locks is15,including 7shippinglocksonthe the numberofshipping 2.5 thousandkm, thelength isabout America; inNorth Lakes to sailfrom to the Great theAtlanticOcean of locksandcanals, allowingoceanships tons (theSt.Lawrence Sea Way isthesystem and deadweight canbeover 28 thousand canbeabout8m of about227m,theirdraft the St.Lawrence Sea Way canreach alength For example, thevessels thatcanbeusedon designed especiallyfor thenewwaterway. the questionisifitpossibleto usevessels vessels wasabout5meters. thisregard, In Thus, for example, oftheproposed thedraft of in Russiatypes “river-sea class” vessels. 2–3 345–374 125–136 280–330 280–330 01 26.5–27.5 10–11 0153 90 20–26 10

39 GEOGRAPHY 40 GEOGRAPHY . BolaevA.V. ofCompletion of ofConstruction (2008) Preliminary EstimationofInfluence 5. significantly increase non-oil and gas export andgasexport significantly increase non-oil oftheproject,will aspart be constructed system alongthenavigable route, whichcan infrastructure, includingthequay and port of pipelines. oftheEurasiaCanal Construction byexistingsystem that cannotbetransported including hydrocarbon-processing products ofgoods, allkinds cancarry water transport contrastto pipelines,the CaspianRegion. In of oftheindustrialization factors important The EurasiaCanalwillbeoneofthemost Caspian region. intheentire ofwater transport the efficiency the CaspianSea. affect That couldseriously much larger vessels thancurrently usedin and theshippingroute) willallowusing (including thedimensionsofshippinglocks the design parameters oftheEurasiaCanal . Bekturganov N.S.,BolaevA.V., Plekhanov 4. Bekturganov N.S. (2015) To GlobalChallenges–ANon-Standard Response. Web Portalofthe 3. AnnualAddress ofthePresident ofRussiato theFederal Assembly oftheRussian 2. A.(2009) Alekhova The Wind Was BlowingFrom theSea. The RepublicanDailyPolitical 1. et al2007, The Great 2014]. Lakes... the )[Seawaymax 2011, Taylor St. Lawrence and8shippinglockson River GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY 01(10)2017 CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES 24–27 (inRussian) ofComplex ResearchSouth ofRussia. HeraldoftheInstitute ofArid Territories. Vol. 2.pp. ofthe Development the Manych Ship Canal (theEurasiaCanal)onthe Socio-Economic Bekturganov N.S.Moscow, pp. 150–158(inRussian). “Future ofCivilizations” for thePeriod Until2050.Edited by Yakovets Y.V., SpitsynA.T., andtheEurasianEconomicCommunity. Part 10 oftheGlobalForecastsia, Kazakhstan Civilizations. Forecast andStrategy ofEnergy andEcological Rus- Partnership Between the SolvingofEnvironmental and Transport Problems onthePrinciples ofPartnership of kz/articles/view/globalnim-vizovam--nestandartnii-otvet1/ [Accessed 01.08.2015] (inRussian) kz/articles/view/globalnim-vizovam--nestandartnii-otvet1/ Nationwide DailyNewspaper Pravda”.“Kazakhstanskaya Available from: http://www.kazpravda. [Accessedpe63374type82634_125339.shtml 01.07.2015](inRussian) Available from: http://archive.kremlin.ru/appears/2007/04/26/1156_type63372ty- Federation on26-thofApril, 2007.(2007) Official Web PortalofthePresident ofRussia. Newspaper “Liter”. 8September 2009.№165(1349)(inRussian)

Increasing Increasing P.A. (2009) The EurasiaCanalasanExampleof and RoadInitiative. project withintheChina’s concept oftheBelt and Central regions ofChinaandanimportant ofeconomicdevelopmentfactor of Western the EurasiaCanalwillbecomeanimportant Also,due to theuseofwater transportation. route; besides, itwillbecomparableincost andfaster thantheocean considerably shorter using water transportation. This way willbe the EurasiaCanal, onehalfofthisway willbe European thecompletionof Union.After way Chinaandthe between on theshortest proposed route oftheEurasiaCanalislocated route thatincludestheEurasia Canal. The viathenewtrans-Eurasian will betransported Sea, ontheMediterranean which have ports oftheEuropeanand thecountries Union, ofthecargo China between A significant part coal andotherlocalproducts. agricultural products,materials, construction to ferrous andnonferrous metals, grain, other oftheCaspianregion.countries This applies andother from theSouthofRussia,Kazakhstan  17. The Seaport ofAktau(2014). TheSeaport Web Portal Resource“Information AboutAktauandMan- 17. 1. h Gr The 16. Taylor, D., Macdonald, N.J. Hall, (2007). K.R., Hydrody- “Investigations into ShipInduced 15. Portal Seawaymax (2011).Internet Connector”“Maritime Available from: http://maritime- 14. 1. Paleoh 13. CaspianandBlackSeas. theEurasiaCanalCanConnect (2007)Network Nazarbayev: 12. C.(2012) Il’nitskii Transit.The Kazakhstan The site oftheMagazine ofUkraine”“Ports Avail- 11. Cherezo A. (2014) The GrainofStavropol. The ResultsandthePerspectives. Informa- 10. . BolaevA.V. (2009) Through the Whole ofEurasia. 9. BolaevA.V. (2016b) ofeconomic part The Project oftheEurasiaCanalasimportant 8. BolaevA.V. (2016a) The China’s Opportunities Concept oftheBeltandRoad Initiative: 7. BolaevA.V. (2015) The EurasiaCanalasaFactor oftheCaspian ofIndustrialization 6. N.S. Bekturganov, A.V. Bolaev THE EURASIA CANAL AS A FACTOR OF ECONOMIC... [Accessed 01.05.2015](inRussian). gistau Region”. Available from: http://aktau-info.com/stati/morskoj-port-v-aktau.html [Accessed 01.08.2015] http://www Saint Lawrence Seaway Available Corporation. Development from: Special Issue50,pp. 499–504. namics andScourinConfined ShippingChannels”. ofCoastal Research Journal (SI50), connector.com/wiki/seawaymax/ [Accessed 01.08.2015] (in Russian). “paleogeo.org” Available from: http://paleogeo.org/manych.html [Accessed 2015] 01May [Accessed 01.07.2015](inRussian) Publication “RIA Novosti”. Available from: http://ria.ru/politics/20070610/67005824.html [Accessed 01.08.2015] (inRussian). able from: http://portsukraine.com/node/2532 (in Russian). [Accesseduspeha.com/interview/zerno-stavropolya-itogi-i-perspektivy/ 01.05.2015] newspaper andweekly tion portal ofSuccess”.“City Available from: http://gorod- (in Russian). the RepublicofKalmykia NewsofKalmykia”]. 12September 2009,№171(4649) “The Kalmykii” “Izvestiia Kalmykiia Respubliki Sciences. Vol. 1,pp. 30–34(inRussian) NationalAcademy ofNatural Road EconomicBeltConcept. HeraldoftheKazakhstan coope andChinaimplementationoftheSilk Russia,Kazakhstan ration between Academy ofNaturalSciences. Vol. 5,pp. 81–86(inRussian) and Prospects for ofForeign Attracting Investment Direct for Russia.BulletinofRussian (in Russian) NationalAcademy ofNaturalSciences. Region. HeraldoftheKazakhstan Vol. 2,pp. 35–36 ydrological Reconstruction oftheManych-Kerchydrological Strait.(2011) Reconstruction Web portal eat Lakes-St. Lawrenceeat Lakes-St. Seaway System (2014).Official Website ofthe .seaway.dot.gov/about/great-lakes-st-lawrence-seaway-system [Informational andAnalyticalNewspaperof [Informational Informatsionno-analiticheskaia gazeta Informatsionno-analiticheskaia

41 GEOGRAPHY 42 GEOGRAPHY Received onDecember 9 Wang Zhongpan ResultsoftheSinohydro (2016)AbouttheMain Corporation’s Research 22. Volkov C.(2010) Sea of The Azov Will BeMerged withtheCaspianSea.(Website 21. Vladimirov V.: Stavropol LandCanGive 10Million “The Tons ofGrain” (2015). The Official 20. The 19. reflect the official policy orpositionoftheGESJournalEditorialBoard,reflect theofficialpolicy andeditors. journalco-founders are thoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarily Statements andopinionsexpressed inthearticle 1. h S The 18. GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY 01(10)2017 studies including more than 250 certificates ofauthorshipandpatents and27monographs.studies including more than250certificates RussiaandChina.Heisthe authorofover 750research Kazakhstan, cooperation between Kazakhstan’srelate to thetechnological development ofKazakhstan, transitpotential, research His the recipient interests ofthehighestaward insciencegiven by Kazakhstan. andis ofEducationand ScienceofKazakhstan includingthepostof Minister Kazakhstan, zakhstan NationalAcademy ofNaturalSciences.zakhstan 2016.vol. 1,pp. 21–22(inRussian) Taking into Account theCurrent SituationandProspects upto 2050.HeraldoftheKa- ment ofthe Transit ofChineseCargoes through the Territories ofRussiaandKazakhstan, on theIssueofSignificance oftheEurasia Canalfor ofConstruction theDevelop- 01.07.2015] (inRussian) the Newspaper “Izvestiia”. [Accessed Available from: http://izvestia.ru/news/366381 [Accessedmshsk.ru/ministries/info/news/4371/ 01.07.2015](inRussian). ofAgricultureWebsite ofStavropol oftheMinistry Territory. Available from: http://www. www.interfax-russia.ru/South/news.asp?id =612638[Accessed 01.06.2015](inRussian). (2015). Web Group Information PortaloftheInternational “Interfax” Available from: http:// [Accessed 01.07.2015](inRussian). aktauskij-morskoj-port-uvelichivaet-gruzooborot.html About AktauandMangistau Region”. Available from: http://aktau-info.com/news/v-aktau/ Stavropol Territory in2014I eaport of Aktau Increases Cargo ofAktauIncreases eaport Turnover Nuraly S.Bekturganov th experience. of Heheldthehighestposts withinthegovernment withover 40years of distinguished career asa public servant Academy ofNaturalSciences. Prior to thatposthehad a astheFirstand serves National Vice-President oftheKazakhstan AcademyNatural SciencesandtheInternational ofEngineering NationalAcademy of theKazakhstan Republic ofKazakhstan, Academician oftheNationalAcademy ofSciences ofthe Engineering andbecameafullProfessor (1991).Heisan Technical 1990hereceived In University). thedegree ofD.Sc. in National Polytechnic (since1994–Kazakh Institute the Kazakh 05 Accepted onFebruary 9 , 2015 ncreased Grain Exports by 1.5 ncreased GrainExports Times –upto 4.5Million Tons graduated from Metallurgical Faculty of (2014). Web Portal (2014). Web “I nformation Resource th , 2017 N.S. Bekturganov, A.V. Bolaev THE EURASIA CANAL AS A FACTOR OF ECONOMIC... Arasha V. Bolaev 20 research studies. One Roaddevelopment concept.Heistheauthorofmore than andtheOneBelt Russia,ChinaandKazakhstan between research interests relate to foreign directinvestments, cooperation to thePresident oftheRussianAcademy ofNaturalSciences. His the degree ofPhD asanadvisor inEconomics2014.Heworks of World Economy oftheMSUFaculty ofGeography. Hereceived graduated from the Department ofGeography graduated from theDepartment

43 GEOGRAPHY