 Russia may be unable to provide competitive cargo tariffs without the Manych Ship Canal, and may lose a considerable part of profits from the transit of cargo of expanding economies in the Caspian region.Construction of the Canal can become a key factor of formation of industrial clusters adjacent to the shipping route within the republics of Kalmykia and Dagestan, the territories of Stavropol and Krasnodar Krai, and the Rostov and Astrakhan regions of southern Russia.Construction of the Manych Ship Canal would link the Caspian and Azov Seas and provide an outlet to world oceans for southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and northern Iran.