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19 May 2024

Russia Expands Oil Trade South via Afghanistan, Seeking Warm Water Ports

Sophia Nina Burna-Asefi

Last week, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan announced plans to build a logistics center in Herat province in western Afghanistan, according to an interview given to Reuters by the Taliban’s Minister of Trade Nuruddin Azizi. As part of this agreement, the governments of the three countries will prepare a series of official plans for the creation of a new logistics hub within two months.

The answer to the important question of who will finance this logistics hub remains elusive. The proposed hub will operate as part of the wider International North-South Transport corridor (INSTC), a 7,200 kilometer intergovernmental transport project first established in 2000 by Iran, Russia, and India. The list of participants in INSTC later expanded to 14, including Oman, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Ukraine is also a member, although the current conflict has put a stop to its active participation.

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