Russian ministry expects river cargo traffic to grow almost 60% to 190 mln t by 2030

MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax) - Russia's Transport Ministry expects strong growth of passenger and cargo traffic on the country's rivers, Transport Minister Roman Starovoit said.

"We expect more than 12 million passengers to be carried by the river fleet in the current year, 2024, and by 2030 we plan for this figure to increase to 19 million passengers," Starovoit said in an interview with TV channel Rossiya 24.

"We are factoring in about the same rates for the growth of cargo traffic. More than 120 million tonnes will be shipped by the river fleet this year and up to 190 million tonnes by 2030," he said. Growth in the period could therefore amount to 58%.

Cargo shipments by river transport in Russia slumped 11.2% to 103.4 million tonnes in 2023, the Federal Statistics Service said.