United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Draft 2 08 May 2017 EURO-ASIAN TRANSPORT LINKS Phase III Expert Group Report Geneva 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 5 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................ 12 PART I. EURO‐ASIAN TRADE ROUTES AND FREIGHT FLOWS ....................................................................... 20 I.1. Economics and trade current situation in EATL Region ................................................................. 20 I.1.1. General overview .................................................................................................................... 20 I.1.2. Asia and Pacific region ............................................................................................................ 23 I.1.3. Central and Eastern Europe .................................................................................................... 28 I.1.4. CIS member‐states .................................................................................................................. 29 I.2. Euro‐Asian trade flows ................................................................................................................... 32 I.2.1. Main trade partners ................................................................................................................ 32 I.2.2. Main commodity groups ......................................................................................................... 48 I.3. Euro‐Asian transport flows ............................................................................................................ 53 I.3.1. EATL transport flows general overview .................................................................................. 53 I.3.2. Liner Shipping situation .......................................................................................................... 53 I.3.3. Railway transport .................................................................................................................... 59 I.3.4. Road transport ........................................................................................................................ 99 I.3.5. Air transport .......................................................................................................................... 103 I.4. Transport Infrastructure of EATL routes development ............................................................... 108 I.4.1. Sea ports and their hinterland connections role in EATL corridors ...................................... 108 I.4.2. Infrastructure of EATL railway routes ................................................................................... 114 I.4.3. Infrastructure of EATL road routes ....................................................................................... 131 I.4.4. Air transport infrastructure .................................................................................................. 137 I.4.5. Logistic centers and dry ports in the EATL system ............................................................... 137 1.5. Comparative analysis of the duration and expenses of different modes of transport between Europe and Asia on selected Euro‐Asian routes ................................................................................... 141 PART II. CURRENT INITIATIVES, PROJECTS AND STUDIES IN EATL REGION ............................................... 159 2 II.1. Overview of international studies, programmes and initiatives on Euro‐Asian transport links development ......................................................................................................................................... 159 II.1.1. UN ECE ................................................................................................................................. 159 II.1.2. UN ESCAP ............................................................................................................................. 163 II.1.3. UN OHRLLS ........................................................................................................................... 165 II.1.4. UNCTAD ............................................................................................................................... 167 II.1.5. UN SPECA ............................................................................................................................. 168 II.1.6. European Union ................................................................................................................... 169 II.1.7. Eurasian Economic Union .................................................................................................... 171 II.1.8. Silk Road Economic BELT Initiative ...................................................................................... 172 II.1.9. OSCE ..................................................................................................................................... 174 II.1.10. OSJD ....................................................................................................................................... 175 II.1.11. BSEC ....................................................................................................................................... 178 II.1.12. TRACECA ................................................................................................................................ 179 II.1.13. ECO ........................................................................................................................................ 182 II.1.14. GUAM .................................................................................................................................... 183 II.1.15. World Bank ............................................................................................................................ 184 II.1.16. ADB and CAREC Program ...................................................................................................... 184 II.1.17. IDB ......................................................................................................................................... 186 II.1.18. EBRD ...................................................................................................................................... 187 II.1.19. IRU ......................................................................................................................................... 188 II.1.20. UIC ......................................................................................................................................... 190 II.1.21. CCTT ....................................................................................................................................... 191 II.1.22. GPST ...................................................................................................................................... 192 II.2. Joint Initiatives and projects implrmrnted by International organisations ................................ 193 II.3. Most important national level programmes and projects ......................................................... 194 PART III. MAIN OBSTACLES HAMPERING THE EURO‐ASIAN TRANSPORT LINKS DEVELOPMENT ............. 202 III.1. General overview .......................................................................................................................... 202 III.2. Border Crossing Points as bottlenecks .......................................................................................... 205 3 III.3. Barriers concerning goods transported ........................................................................................ 207 III.4. Barriers concerning border crossing technologies and procedures ............................................. 209 III.5. Road transportation specific barriers ............................................................................................ 210 III.6. Rail transportation specific barriers .............................................................................................. 211 III.7. Intermodal transportation specific barriers .................................................................................. 216 III.8. Mismatch of public and private interests ..................................................................................... 216 PART IV. EATL: LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE ............................................................................................. 217 PART V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................. 232 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................. 241 ANNEXES ................................................................................................................................................... 244 4 ABBREVIATIONS ADB Asian Development Bank AIIB Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations BSEC Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation BSEC-URTA BSEC