Why China is Building a New Road to Russia

Video narrated and hosted by Fred Mills. This video contains paid promotion for Straight Arrow News.

IN THE MOUNTAINS of Georgia, where Europe meets Asia, a critically important — and deeply controversial — new highway is under construction.

It’s an immense project — expanding a key trade route between Russia and Armenia and bypassing a road that becomes impassable in winter, leaving locals stranded.

With soaring bridges and a record-breaking tunnel, the scheme promises plenty of positives, but look deeper below the surface and you’ll find reasons for concern.

Some see it as a threat to what has always been a quiet, peaceful region, and a danger to nearby heritage sites.

Others are unsure about closer links with Russia, following the invasion of Ukraine.

And with China in charge of the build, and funding coming from several sources, many will be expecting a return on their investment.

Is this really something that will benefit the people of Georgia first and foremost, or is there more to it than meets the eye?

Above: Georgia's Khada Valley. Image courtesy of Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia. 

In the north of Georgia — the country in Europe, not the US state — is the Khada Valley.

A landscape of deep gorges and ancient towers, it sits on the edge of the Caucasus Mountains, between the Black and Caspian Seas.

Communities have been living here since Neolithic times, and it’s a region rich with historic sites.

“The Khada Valley is a very small valley. It’s located very close to the capital [Tbilisi] and it’s unique in terms of its cultural heritage,” said Manana Kochladze, the human rights and democratisation lead at Bankwatch.

“People are very much attached to this valley in Mtiuleti, and people are continuing the traditions which have been for centuries existing here.”

The high road

However, it’s not all peace and quiet here. The area is home to the S3 highway — the only road connecting Georgia with Russia, a country it has a very complicated relationship with, through these mountains.

Some still call it by its old name: the Georgian Military Road, which follows a route used by traders — and invaders — throughout history.

Today, the road is part of a key transport corridor running all the way from Russia to Armenia, which shares a border with Iran.

Above: The North-South Road Corridor connects Russia and Armenia via Russia.

When it’s actually open, that is. Because in winter, due to extreme snowfall and frequent landslides, it can become completely blocked.

From 2012 to 2016 it was shut for over a month each year on average, and it struggles to cope with the more than 3,000 vehicles that use it every day.

Long queues of trucks trying to cross the border into Russia are not uncommon along this road, and locals are completely cut off when it’s out of action. Which is why a massive bypass is being built around the worst-affected area.

Given severe snowfall and avalanches have historically been a problem, half of the new highway will be built underground.

This means drivers can steer clear of the winter shutdown and the dangers it poses.

Building connections

Named after the villages at each end, the Kvesheti-Kobi Road will be 23km long, including six bridges and five tunnels. One of which, at 9km, will be the longest tunnel in Georgia.

But length wasn’t the only record broken here when digging completed in 2024.

At 15 metres, the tunnel boring machine specially made for the job is the largest-diameter TBM with a single shield ever built for hard rock areas.

Above: The TBM was given the name Caucasus after the mountain range it had to tunnel through. 

That’s according to one of the Chinese companies handling the construction: China Railway Tunnel Group.

They claim it was the fastest, too, moving as much as 426 metres per month despite weighing almost 4,000 tonnes.

In fact, the TBM made such rapid progress carving through the soil, carrying the rubble out and lining the interior all at the same time, it was able to finish a month ahead of schedule.

Rocky road

It had to navigate through multiple different ground types, too — not just of the hard variety.

Most of the rock was actually marl — a softer rock consisting of clay and lime — and tuff, made from volcanic ash.

Yes, just next to the new tunnel is an inactive volcano, which must have erupted at some point in the past.

Geological tests revealed large areas of black shale to the west of the new route. This is one of the main reasons it was chosen ahead of other alternatives.

The bridges — being built by the same Chinese firm — have presented some big engineering challenges.

Above: One of six bridges under construction along the new route. Image courtesy of Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia.

When the road passes the village of Zakatkari it needs to cross a wide section of the valley. Therefore, the decision was made to plug the gap with a 432-metre-long arch bridge.

Although work is yet to begin on it, the structure will have a 285-metre span, 51-metre height, and it’ll be built using a cantilever construction method.

One other bridge has been making clear progress, however. Almost half a kilometre in length, it can be found at the southern end of the new road, where it passes over the White Aragvi River, before the route enters another tunnel.

Chinese puzzle

A question you might have now is what’s in it for China? Well, Georgia is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a strategy to better connect Asia, Africa and Europe with Chinese-built infrastructure.

By 2023, over 200 agreements had been signed with more than 150 countries under the Belt and Road, requiring hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese loans.

Georgia’s position near where the continents meet makes it an attractive place to continue this mission.

Above: China Railway Tunnel Group was responsible for digging the main tunnel. 

The partnership between the countries may have led to some impressive-looking construction so far, but not everyone believes it’s been entirely in Georgia’s best interests.

“China is not investing in Georgia, but what they are doing is Chinese companies are tendering and winning most of the public procurement in this country since maybe the last decade, which is quite a concerning situation, I would say, in terms of the quality of the deliverables,” Kochladze claimed.

This is because of what already happened on the East-West Highway — another project China has been delivering in the country, which will have 53 tunnels of its own.

Slipping up

In 2023, contractors were accused of being unprepared for the landslides that disrupted construction, there were strikes over working conditions and pay, and even fatal accidents.

Fortunately, there haven’t been any similar reports on the Kvesheti-Kobi Road.

After the TBM broke through on the main tunnel, Georgia’s Prime Minister said, “we are happy that this project has been implemented in cooperation with the Chinese company, which did a very good job.”

Above: The East-West Highway, also known as the Rikoti Pass. Image courtesy of Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia.

But enough about China. Let’s get back to what the benefits of this project are expected to be for Georgia itself.

Once it completes by the end of 2025, drivers will be able to travel from Kvesheti to Kobi — and around that troublesome area — in just 15 minutes.

Right now, it’s a journey that takes about an hour, so that’s quite a significant time saving.

It will ensure quicker, safer trips without disruption — for those travelling along the full corridor and nearby residents.

People in the small villages to the north have been told they will gain easier access to Tbilisi and other cities across Georgia all year round.

Plus, an additional 5km of rural access roads, designed to be usable in all weathers, has been promised for the locals, as well as a new visitor centre.

Yes, another objective of this scheme is to make this spot more attractive to tourists.

Coughing up the cash

So, we know which countries are set to gain from it, and that China is doing the building work. But where’s the money coming from?

It’s expected to cost around half a billion US dollars, with most of that loaned from the Asian Development Bank, or ADB.

The rest comes from Georgia’s Government and another loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Above: A visual breakdown of the project's funding.

As well as putting up most of the cash, the ADB has provided extra support to ensure the project complies with environmental requirements. This includes an Impact Assessment and Monitoring Reports.

Because the consequences of this new road on the local area has been a major talking point since it was first proposed, and when you look around you can see why.

It’s been referred to as “the most beautiful place on Earth,” which has been mostly untouched by tourism up to this point.

Ancient wonders

Then you’ve got the historic sites. Dozens of medieval towers and churches still stand here — some of them visible from the existing road. There are believed to be many artifacts buried out of sight.

However, despite those measures to limit the environmental impact, they have created some concerns.

“One of the major problems of the project was that the Environmental Impact Assessment was badly prepared. Also, the cultural heritage was very badly studied,” Kochladze said.

“They found only 34 cultural objects and after a number of complaints new research revealed 155 material objects, and lots of those are archeological findings.”

Above: One of the many old towers dotted around the area where the road is being built. Image courtesy of Roman Odintsov.

In total, more than 200 monuments and objects were identified in the Khada Valley and Kobi, and over 100 of those were found to be in the project’s zone of influence. That’s far more than originally reported.

A Cultural Heritage Action Plan was then carried out, which gave recommendations on how each find should be protected and conserved, from building fences to monitoring vibrations.

Despite this, several objects were still flagged as being at risk of being damaged or destroyed by the project, which hasn’t turned out to be popular with everyone after all.

According to reports, some villagers believe they weren’t fully informed about the scale of the noise, pollution and other factors, as well as the proximity to homes and buildings.

Moscow's motivation

And then there’s the other big player in all this — Russia. The new road might offer a boost to trade that both countries would welcome, but could there be more to it than that?

Georgia and Russia having a complicated relationship is actually a bit of an understatement.

Russia still occupies around 20% of Georgia’s territory following the Russo-Georgian War of 2008, and the decade before there was the Abkhazia War.

Above: The Kobi end of the new road is not far from the border with Russia.

The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has left many Georgians feeling uneasy about a quicker, easier route into the country from the north.

“The Caucasus Mountains is like a natural border with Russia and for Georgia, which has been living for more than 200 years under the threat of the Russians’ military exercises, it’s really problematic psychologically,” Kochladze explained.

“Do we really need to have this high-speed road towards Russia? Maybe it was the desire of Iran or China, but why should the Georgian people have to pay for that? This is also the issue that we really need to answer somehow.”

Passing through one of the world’s most stunning places, the Kvesheti-Kobi Road promises a great deal, and it’s overcome some remarkable challenges.

With the current route no longer fit for purpose on its own, Georgia has pulled out all the stops to get this crucial new detour motoring towards completion.

But with other nations and lenders all expecting to gain something from it, the project has been dividing option, and there could be some twists yet to come in this tale.

This video contains paid promotion for Straight Arrow News. Check out Straight Arrow News to stay informed and get Unbiased, Straight Facts. Download the app here SAN.com/b1m.

Video narrated and hosted by Fred Mills. Additional footage and images courtesy of Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, Alexxx Malev/CC BY-SA 2.0, France 24, Konrad Lembcke/CC BY-ND 2.0, NTV Kenya, Polina Kovaleva, Roman Odintsov and WION.

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