The Meridian route changes course

In recent years, Russia has been experiencing a boom in road construction. No matter what anyone says, the roads are becoming better and safer, and new alternative directions are being developed. Expressways have become a very important part of the overall transformation of the country's roads. The M11 Neva highway has been operating for several years now, connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg.


Construction of the M12 Vostok highway from Moscow to Tyumen continues, with the possibility of continuing to other regions of Siberia. Since 2021, residents of the Moscow region and truck drivers have been pleased with the Central Ring Road, which allows them to quickly bypass congested entrances to the capital and the Moscow Ring Road.

Private highway

Until recently, the Meridian highway, the first private highway in Russia, was a very promising project. It was assumed that the road would connect northern Kazakhstan and Belarus and become part of the Chinese “New Silk Road”. The highway could be part of the Shanghai-Hamburg transcontinental route. The length of the Russian section would be about 2 thousand km.

The project of this road has been developed since 2013, and it seemed that nothing would interfere with the implementation of the project. The highway was supposed to pass through 8 regions, bypassing major cities. The route was originally planned as a transit route, with tolls. It was supposed to bring great benefits not only to international trade, but also to increase transport connectivity of Russian regions.

In addition to the road itself, new bridges and overpasses, interchanges, rest areas, parking lots and terminals for service personnel were laid. A concrete base for the road would greatly simplify roadway maintenance.


Meridian was immediately designed with the use of unmanned trucks in mind in the future. They also talked about the possibility of running road trains up to 50 m long. The maximum weight of transport is 80 tons.

But problems began immediately after the start of design. Not all farms and holdings agreed to sell plots of land for the highway. The dissection of land significantly complicates logistics within farms and interferes with sowing and harvesting. Later, a pandemic began and the volume of international trade decreased sharply, and subsequent political events crossed out all plans for the implementation of the project. However, construction has already begun in some areas.

The approximate cost of the project is 600 billion rubles. How much we managed to implement, taking into account all costs, is unknown.

Private investors and government support

As already mentioned, the Meridian was supposed to be a private road. That is, it was not intended to attract budget funds. The government at the federal and regional levels helped entrepreneurs, but the priority was the Rosavtodor projects - the Central Ring Road and M12.

To build Meridian, it was necessary to purchase thousands of hectares of land and coordinate the project with all relevant organizations.
Chinese and Kazakh investors were interested in the route, but there is no information about any serious transactions. In 2021, the Eurasian Development Bank, which specializes in financing large infrastructure facilities, joined the project.

The M12 highway is the main competitor

Construction of the M12 Vostok highway began in 2021. Only this time the construction was financed from the state budget. Almost immediately, this highway was called a competitor to Meridian, as it would become an alternative to the international east-west transport direction. Logistics industry experts began to question Meridian’s prospects. In addition, the M12 project assumed the possibility of connecting regional centers, which from an economic point of view is more important than simply the transit of international goods.


The launch of the first section of the M12 at the end of 2023 confirmed the demand for such a route. Further development of the project also involves the participation of foreign investors. Now we can say with confidence that the Chinese have completely lost interest in Meridian in its original form, since exits from the M12 towards Kazakhstan and China can be made anywhere. But the fact remains that the M12 is a regional highway, there is no talk of any international transit, even with the prospect of an extension to the western borders. Europe is closed.

New direction of "Meridian"

In the summer of 2022, Meridian LLC announced the reorientation of its project. From now on, the highway will have to connect not Kazakhstan and Belarus, but Russia and Iran. The direction is very promising, given the increasing cargo turnover between Russia, Iran and India. But there is a question. How will the new route from Naberezhnye Chelny to Krasnodar help trade between Russia and Iran? Most likely, this implies cooperation with Rosavtodor on the South-Western Expressway project and the completion of construction of sections that have already begun.

It is expected that the route will pass through Samara, Saratov, Volgograd and Rostov-on-Don. The new highway will serve as a connecting section between the M12 and the M4 Don highway. The classic four-lane traffic, convenient interchanges, lighting and tolls are being laid.


Yes, Meridian 2.0 will be an important artery for the southern regions of the country, but there is no need to talk about international significance. This route will be very popular in the summer season. Residents of the Volga regions will have a convenient route to the resort areas of the Krasnodar Territory and Crimea. The process of development and construction of the new Meridian should begin no earlier than 2025, and full commissioning is scheduled only for 2035. Different sections will be launched gradually.

Does Russia need a road from Kazakhstan to Belarus without international transit?

It is unknown whether they will ever return to restarting the project of this grandiose highway. But such a route is definitely needed. And now we’re not talking about payback periods and workload. To “recoup” the conditional 600 billion rubles (most likely more) without international transit, the route will take decades. But if we raise the question of the usefulness of such a communication route, then the project no longer seems so crazy.

We have the example of China, which 20 years ago began building long railways and highways throughout the country, connecting not only the main economic centers, but also regions. The Chinese have created a whole network of high-quality roads. Local businesses and motorists always have a choice of several alternative roads that can be quickly changed based on weather conditions, traffic or repairs. This allows you to quickly deliver goods and transport people. For example, a parcel from Wuhan (central China) will travel to Beijing in about a day or less, which is more than 2 thousand km.


Russia also needs a network of highways within the regions that will not be tied into the Moscow transport hub. And in this sense, “Meridian” would be an excellent option. The unification of the Central Russian black earth region, the Volga and the industrial Urals would give impetus to the development of these regions.

Potentially, such routes may appear in the northwestern regions. In the meantime, we can only monitor the development of M12 and wait for news about the “Iranian version of Meridian.” Let’s hope that the projects will be implemented in full and the Russians will receive new high-quality highways.