The announcement came Wednesday from the Kazakh government: Deputy Prime Minister Zhaslan Madiyev, who runs the AI and digital development ministry, called the submarine section the most complex stage of the project and declared it complete.
The mechanics were maritime. A cable-laying vessel displacing more than 20,000 tonnes worked the crossing around the clock with some 70 specialists aboard. Engineering surveys and cable testing ran in early 2025; the laying itself began in July 2026. Onshore infrastructure and system testing are due to finish in autumn 2026.
A vessel displacing more than 20,000 tonnes worked the crossing around the clock.
The line runs through CaspiLink B.V., a joint venture of the two operators, and the release makes a point of the financing: entirely from the companies’ own funds, with no state budget line. Kazakhtelecom chairman Bagdat Musin offered the completion as proof the operators can deliver infrastructure of any complexity at speed.
The release frames the line as transit capability for both countries and a foundation for AI and cloud infrastructure. For the Middle Corridor conversation, which has run on hydrocarbons and rail wagons all summer, this is the digital layer arriving as hardware on the seabed.