First ship with 3,000 t of grain sails for Iran from port SEZ in Astrakhan Region

ASTRAKHAN. Aug 28 (Interfax) - The first vessel loaded with grain has set sail for Iran from Berth 9 of the Olya port special economic zone (PSEZ) in Astrakhan Region, the press service of the Lotos SEZ, which like Olya is part of the Caspian Cluster, reported.

"The first trial shipment of grain has set sail for Iran from the docks of the port SEZ. It totaled about 3,000 tonnes. The investor plans to increase volumes to 12,000 tonnes per month soon. This is about 150,000 tonnes per year. With the launch of the capacity of berths 8 and 9 we will reach a volume of about 1 million tonnes per year. And with the launch of the new port complex in the area of Zaburunny Lake we will be able to increase shipments to 3 million-5 million tonnes per year," JSC Lotos SEZ chief executive Sergei Milushkin said in the press release.

Feed barley from Russian suppliers was shipped in by truck to temporary storage warehouses at the port SEZ that were built by PSEZ residents Caspian AgroTerminal LLC and Caspian Port and Logistics Company LLC (Caspian PLC), the release said.

The first phase of the PSEZ project, with capacity to handle over 3 million tonnes per year, involves building a container terminal at Berth 8 and grain and oil crop terminals at Berth 9. Construction of the first phase is expected to be completed in 2024.

Residents have so far invested about 500 million rubles in the construction of the first phase of the Olya PSEZ.

The second phase will involve building a second cargo area near Zaburunny Lake with 18 berths.

Lotos is an industrial manufacturing special economic zone that was set up in the Narimanovsky district 40 km from Astrakhan almost ten years ago. The 996-hectare zone is aimed at localizing manufacturing in areas such as shipbuilding, oil, gas and other industrial equipment and high technology.

The PSEZ in the area of the Olya port in the Limansky district of Astrakhan Region was created on orders from the Russian president as part of comprehensive measures to develop the North-South international transport corridor. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a resolution on the creation of the PSEZ and the Caspian Cluster in Astrakhan Region in November 2020. The region's existing Lotos SEZ was folded into the cluster with the PSEZ.

The anchor resident of the PSEZ is Caspian PLC with the project to build the port complex to handle container and other cargo at a cost of more than 27 billion rubles. The company was registered in Astrakhan Region in April 2019 to implement the project and is owned by Igor Rudetsky, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. Caspian PLC owns 99% of Caspian AgroTerminal and former Caspian PLC CEO Georgy Savchenko owns the other 1%.

The Olya commercial seaport is located 100 km south of Astrakhan in the delta of the Volga River, at the 67 km point of the Volga-Caspian Canal. The port's website said that Olya is the largest Russian commercial port in the Caspian region.