Russian Transport Ministry estimates investments in port projects from 2025-2030 at 541 billion rubles, expects capacity to grow by 232 million tonnes

MOSCOW. June 4 (Interfax) - The financing of projects for the construction and development of Russian seaports from 2025 through 2030 as part of the Development of the Core Network of Seaports federal program is estimated at nearly 541.1 billion rubles, Transport Minister Roman Starovoit said at a presentation to the Federation Council economic policy committee.

Of this amount, 500 billion rubles are expected to be financed from extra-budgetary sources, while 41.1 billion rubles will come from the federal budget.

"To develop the core network of seaports, there are plans to implement 30 activities in 16 seaports, which will increase their capacity nearly 232 million tonnes from 2025 through 2030," Starovoit said during his speech.

According to the presentation, the increase in port capacity in the Azov-Black Sea basin is estimated at 38.6 million tonnes; for the North-South international transport corridor, the planned increase is 5.3 million tonnes, while a 66.4 million-tonne increase is planned in the North-West, and 121.49 million tonnes are planned in the Far East.

The presentation lists the following key projects: the development of the Port Elga sea coal terminal (Khabarovsk Territory), the construction of a universal transshipment complex at the Novorossiysk Ship Repair Plant , the construction of a multifunctional cargo area in the port of Korsakov (Poronaisk), and the creation of a western transport-logistics hub for the transshipment of transit container cargo.

According to the minister, as part of the federal program for the development of inland waterways. There are plans to ensure guaranteed depths in European Russia's Unified Deep-Water System for the passage of ships with a draft of 3.6 m. The key activities of this project are the construction of the Bagaevsky Hydroelectric Complex on the Don River, the reconstruction of the locks at the Gorodetsky Hydroelectric Complex (Nizhny Novgorod), a comprehensive project for the reconstruction of the Moscow Canal infrastructure, as well as a project for the reconstruction of hydraulic structures on the Volga River.

The financing of projects for the development of inland waterways in 2025-2030 from the federal budget is estimated at 162.3 billion rubles, the presentation said.

"As part of the target indicators for the implementation of the Development of the Northern Sea Route federal project, there are plans to achieve cargo transportation volumes in the water area of the route of 150 million tonnes by 2030 as well as a total sea port capacity in the water area of over 127 million tonnes," Starovoit said.

The financing of the Northern Sea Route development project in 2025-2030 is estimated to be in the area of 946.2 billion rubles, 212.4 billion of which are from the federal budget. Key areas are the construction of an icebreaker, auxiliary and rescue fleet, construction of port infrastructure and development of coastal shipping along the Northern Sea Route.