BRUSSELS, January 29. /TASS/. The European Union plans to attract up to 10 bln euro worth of investments for creating a transport corridor from Central Asia to Europe through the Caucasus region and Turkey bypassing Russia, with Brussels ready to allocate 2.97 bln euro for those purposes, according to a statement by the European Commission (EC) in connection with the EU-Central Asia transport investment forum taking place in Brussels.

Russia's special military operation "has underlined the urgency to find alternative reliable efficient trade routes between Europe and Asia that do not transit Russia," the EC said.

"The €10 billion commitment is a mixture of ongoing and planned investments which <…> the European Commission foresees to be mobilized for sustainable transport development in Central Asia in the short term," the statement reads.

"The European Investment Bank (EIB) <…> signed Memoranda of Understanding totaling €1.47 billion with the Governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan as well as the Development Bank of Kazakhstan. These loans will be made possible by guarantees provided by the European Commission. Later today, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) <…> will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Kazakhstan, with an investment pipeline worth €1.5 billion with projects already under preparation for the overall development of transport connectivity in the Central Asian region," according to the statement.