Risks of Integration of Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Railways with International Transport Corridors of Eurasia

Abstract

The article is devoted to describing the main trends of Eurasian transport corridors integration in terms of assessment of the participants’ risks. It shows that the format of the transport integration peculiar to the trans-regional alliances initiates risk synergy at the level of business profiles of the amalgamating countries, but not only in the sphere of the transport communication. Besides, the inconformity in the structure of the frights, carried in various directions in Eurasia, means additional financial burden to support the infrastructure and the rolling stock to meet the integration challenges. All these problems lead to impossibility of payback of the transport investment projects both at the level of a single country and any union of countries. Thus, the financial and economic risks of integration projects in transport, with respect to the structure of the energy balances of the countries uniting the transport corridors, request higher demands for the return of capital employed, and, consequently, they are translated into all related industrial sectors on the continent. Ignoring the integration risks in substantiating the projects of international transport corridors leads to increased expectations in regard to socio-economic and geopolitical consequences for international trade agreements, holds back on the volumes of foreign economic activity of the countries, leads to isolationist tendencies at the level of economic entities. As a measure directed to obtaining an effect of the scale sufficient to compensate the business risks of the transport integration, the article offers to organize the transport communication on the continent on the principle of “Management of United Corridor”, involving various types of transport, using the transport logistic hubs. This kind of principle of international cooperation in the transport is particular profitable for the Russo-Chinese relationships, with Russia being a provider of the transport services, and China being the place of origin of the major part of freights transported through international transport corridors.