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The Diplomat (30 January 2023)

Wilder Alejandro Sánchez

Astana is betting heavily on the Middle Corridor as a route to access the international energy market without Russia.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), commonly known as the Middle Corridor, is going nuclear as Kazakhstan’s National Atomic Company, Kazatomprom, announced in December the delivery of natural uranium to Canada. As Russian ports and transport routes are under sanctions due to the war in Ukraine, Kazakhstan is looking for alternative ways to reach international markets; thus Astana has supported the Middle Corridor since the war commenced. The recent uranium delivery is not the first and will likely not be the last.

Kazatomprom has not detailed how much uranium was delivered or whether future deliveries via the Middle Corridor will occur soon. However, the route the uranium took has been made public: by “26 October 2022, the KAP-owned portion of the shipment had reached the Port of Poti [Georgia] and was waiting for additional material from JV Inkai to arrive.” A chartered vessel carrying material from both companies eventually arrived at “a Canadian port.”

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