Victor Olersky: the meeting of Tokyo MoU Committee in Vladivostok will make London closer to the regions worldwide
The Tokyo MoU Committee meeting held on 18 September in Vladivostok with participation of Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), has a positive impact on international navigation and narrows the distance between the leadership of IMO and maritime authorities of Russia, Victor Olersky, Deputy Transport Minister of the Russian Federation – Head of the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency, said in his interview with IAA PortNews correspondent between the sessions.
- How relevant is the meeting’s topic for Russia?
- As it is known, Russia is a member of three international MoUs on port state control – Tokyo, Paris and Black Sea MoUs.
One of the key tasks of today’s meeting is the unification of approaches to all three regimes of port state control. All of them have been basically focused on ensuring safe navigation and improvement of environment protection as well as the conditions of seafarers’ work. This regular meeting is dedicated to routine issues of port state control, improvement of assessment methods and other aspects. The other thing, which is important for us, is the enhancement of communication with the International Maritime Organization and MoUs which is currently not sufficiently represented in the information exchange.
- Are there any changes expected when the Committee completes its work?
- This work does not imply introduction of any new provisions. Today’s meeting is dedicated to the elaboration of the well known issues with the sole purpose of improving the activities of international maritime industry in general.
It is the 28th meeting, which is a part of routine work. Besides, sharp changes have a negative impact on business.
- How important is it for Russia to have Vladivostok selected for hosting the meeting?
- The choice is logical. The Tokyo MoU Committee integrates the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region while Russia is intensively developing its maritime industry in the region.
International cooperation in the region is among the state priorities. The fact of Vladivostok hosting a forum which gathered high rank participants of that kind has a strong popularization effect for the city and the region. All participants I could speak to are fascinated by the city.
- How would you, as the head of the Agency, estimate the port of Vladivostok?
- Generally speaking, I see improvements, though I am hypercritical and hard to please. On our part, we provide extensive support to the development of the maritime industry, first of all, when it comes to new regulatory documents.
Interviewed by Yevgeny Pankratyev