Kazakh Leader Wants to Create ‘Mega’ Highway From China to St. Petersburg

Nursultan Nazarbayev , the President of Kazakhstan, is eager to bring Russia closer to its southern neighbors in Central Asia, by proposing to extend a new highway project that goes from China all across Kazakhstan up to St. Petersburg.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev wants to extend a new highway planned to go from China to Russia until it reaches St. Petersburg, Russian Gazeta.ru reported.

The Kazakh president said during the meeting of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS):

"We're finishing the construction of the most modern highway from the border with China to Russia. This is 2,700 kilometers [around 1,670 miles]. I will ask Dmitry [Medvedev] to extend this highway."

Nazarbayev thinks the highway extension should be constructed from Kazan, the capital of Russia's Tatarstan republic, and further until it reaches St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city.

The new highway will facilitate the economic development of many Central Asian economies, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, the Kazakh leader concluded.