Belarus building terminal to connect to China's Silk Road

MINSK. Nov 17 (Interfax) - The Eurasian Railway Gateway terminal, connecting the Belarusian Great Stone Industrial Park to China's Silk Road project, will reach the first stage of preparedness in the middle of 2026, the state-run media outlet Belarus Segodnya said.

"We can say without exaggeration that the Eurasian Railway Gateway bi-modal container terminal is a key logistics project of the Great Stone, which is crucial for the country. It is due to form trains for shipping Belarusian products by China's Silk Road," the report said.

The terminal will provide services such as container handling, warehousing, storage, and loading. It will also provide transfers between the terminal and clients, container repairs, and customs clearance of imported and exported cargo. The facility's planned capacity is to handle up to 180,000 standard containers per year, with the potential to increase this to 500,000.

The estimated investment for the project exceeds $50 million.

The first stage of the terminal project, which is due to be finalized by the middle of next year, will allow accumulating, storing and processing cargo. The next stage envisages construction of warehouses for cargo handling operations.

"We are considering sources of funding, including third-party investors. Once the processes are complete, logistics, warehouse and transshipment facilities will be built near the railway. The second stage is scheduled for 2027. According to tentative estimates, it will be finalized in 2028," Industrial Park Development Company First Deputy General Director Kirill Koroteyev told the media outlet.