The sanctions have not led to any catastrophic consequences in the Russian market of LPG production and export. Russian gas is still being successfully exported to the markets of both Asia and Europe, although export directions have changed a little.

The growth of grain exports from Russian ports is forecasted to continue: the country’s supplies to foreign markets totaled 45.2 million tonnes in 2022 and may reach 60 million tonnes by 2024-2025. However, the sanctions have changed this market considerably, both in terms of geography of supplies and in terms of new priorities set by the shippers.

Russia is deficient in at least three aspects crucial for smooth logistics in the Far East direction: railway capacity of the Eastern Polygon, icebreaker support on the NSR as well as shipbuilding and repair facilities in the Far East.

Given the restrictions caused by sanctions Russian civil shipbuilding faces problems with equipping the fleet under construction with engines and propulsion systems. Vladimir Gutenev, Chairman of RF State Duma Committee on Industry and Trade, tells PortNews about measures being worked out at the level of the executive and legislative authorities of Russia aimed at the development of domestic engine building in the interests of the shipbuilding industry.

Drastic changes in Russia’s container logistics have led to downtime of facilities in the North-West and their congestion in the Far East. In this situation, investments are required both in the creation of new facilities in overloaded regions, and in the optimization and diversification of the existing facilities in underloaded ones. Meanwhile, investors face a number of challenges.

As sanctions cause the shifts in Russian economy, Commercial Port of Vladivostok (CPV) enhances containerization by developing its facilities and acquiring equipment. By 2025, the port will be able to handle up to 1 million TEU while implementation of a joint project with Rosatom can double this result. Nikolay Yermolayev, Managing Director of CPV, PJSC tells about the port’s development in the new reality.

After the cancellation of “zero tolerance" policy on COVID-19, the economy of China has been showing revitalization accompanied by a surge in coal consumption. Russia is the second country after Indonesia in coal imports of China. However, the capabilities of Russia are limited by the lack of transport infrastructure. The market players offer some measures to solve this problem.

The Northern Sea Route and the Arctic ports are increasingly important due to restrictions imposed on Russian ships in foreign waters and also due to the shortage of port infrastructure in the Far East and Southern basins. However, the creation of the Arctic transport fleet faces a number of challenges with the maintenance among them.

In the first quarter of 2023, cargo traffic on the North-South corridor doubled to 2.3 million tonnes. However, numerous problems hinder the development of this route and force the market players look at underloaded terminals of the Baltic basin.

With the worsening of relations with the Baltic states, the issue of transporting goods to/from the Kaliningrad has aggravated. The sea route is virtually the only viable alternative to land transit. Vessels sail regularly to the Kaliningrad Region from both the port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad Region and from Great Port of Saint-Petersburg.