MSC's Medlog enters Kazakhstan with a stake in Sarzha Logistics at Kuryk
The Caspian cluster is planned for up to 5 million tonnes a year, including 110,000 teu of containers
Medlog, the logistics arm of MSC, is entering Kazakhstan through a partnership with the local infrastructure developer Semurg Invest at the Caspian port of Kuryk. A sale and purchase agreement between Semurg Invest and Medlog Poti LLC was signed in Geneva, and on completion Medlog will become an equal partner in Sarzha Logistics.
The partners plan to develop Sarzha Logistics as a platform and container operator for cargo flows in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The project combines Semurg's infrastructure at Kuryk with Medlog's network and covers the development of the Middle Corridor, off-dock terminals, dry ports, rail and intermodal facilities.
The Sarzha Caspian cluster is planned to add up to 5 million tonnes a year of cargo-handling capacity, including container throughput of up to 110,000 teu a year. Sarzha sits in Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky Bay near the village of Kuryk, in Kazakhstan's Mangistau region, south of Aktau. Semurg's existing assets there include a truck park serving the ro-ro ferry complex, a customs warehouse, rail yards and storage for marine diesel and liquefied petroleum gas.
The deal follows a meeting in Brussels in June 2026 between Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and MSC senior vice president Eduard Sigrist, which covered containerisation, the Middle Corridor, Kuryk and MSC's expansion in the country. Tokayev has called the Middle Corridor, the route linking China and Central Asia to Europe across the Caspian and the Caucasus, a strategic priority.
"We are pleased to see that, following the dialogue between President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the leadership of MSC Group in Brussels, our cooperation is moving into practical implementation," said Semurg Invest chief executive Nurzhan Marabayev.
Medlog will bring the Kazakh routes into its network of more than 470 logistics facilities, which handle about 10 million teu a year; MSC's wider network reaches 520 ports in 155 countries. "This partnership allows us to develop new container and multimodal services linking Central Asia through the Caspian Sea and Georgia with Turkiye, Europe, and our global network," said Mukhran Dekanadze, managing director of Medlog Poti.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 27 September 2026.
