Restricted shipping in the Sea of Azov, sanctions against Russian companies, challenging weather conditions – the year of 2022 was not easy for the Azov-Don basin of inland waterways. However, it is still a promising region for building up the cargo base. The construction of the Bagaevsky hydrosystem continues on the Don river, and year-round shipping through the basin towards the Caspian and the Azov seas will be launched the future.

Belarus has cut a window, but not to Europe. Amid the European sanctions, the Republic of Belarus has begun to develop Russian ports, hoping to obtain Port Bronka, a multi-purpose terminal in Saint-Petersburg, as well as port facilities for handling its cargo in Russia’s north and south.

Despite the economic turbulence, Russian shipyards are loaded with orders. Their implementation, along with other problems, is complicated due to the lack of qualified personnel. In 2022, the number of new vacancies posted by shipbuilding companies rose by 26%, year-on-year.

Сoal exports are still profitable via all basins of Russia but the level of profitability varies. Amid insufficient capacity of the railway infrastructure providing the link with the Far East, exporters are switching to the South and the Baltic region. The task of developing the Black Sea basin infrastructure was set by the President of Russia in his recent Address to the Federal Assembly.

Despite the sanctions, Russia managed to make good money on the export of mineral fertilizers last year. Domestic ports contributed essentially to this success. Yet, will it be possible to make it last?

The capacity of Russian seaports increased by 37 million tonnes in 2022. In the coming years it is to show further growth with the implementation of large-scale projects in all basins of the country. A considerable scope of hydraulic engineering works is to be conducted on inland water ways. However, it is necessary to create our own dredging fleet for implementation of those projects.

One of the key focuses of the Russian Transport Strategy until 2030 is the port industry digitalization. Experts see the prospects in creation of smart ports involving artificial intelligence, the Internet of things and augmented reality. IAA PortNews article tells about how Russian stevedores cope with it.

A zero VAT rate is to be set for ship repair companies of Russia. The industry representatives welcome this step but say that is not sufficient for the revival of ship repair – a comprehensive approach is required.

In 2022, coal exports via Russian seaports rose by less than 2%, year-on-year. The highly demanded route to the Far East has become a bottleneck for coal logistics, hence the southward shift of coal flows. However, the capacity of railway approaches is also limited there.

In late 2022, Russian companies performed a high-precision deep-water operation on replacement of buoyancy tanks at the Single Point Moorings of CPC terminal in Novorossiysk. Previously, foreign companies were contracted for such works. General contractor of the project was Alliance LLC. Aleksey Milovantsev, General Director of the company tells IAA PortNews about the specifics of that sophisticated operation and shares the company’s plans on expansion of its activities and on entering the market of dredging.