Ports of Russia always play an important role in the economic development of the country. The reason for this is geography of Russia: the country borders on 12 seas of three oceans and the Caspian Sea. Today the Register of seaports of Russia includes 67 ports located in Arctic, Baltic, Azov-Black Sea, Caspian and Far East basins.
Following the results of January-August 2016, cargo turnover of seaports amounted to 468,6 mln tons, increased by 5,7% compared to the same period of the previous year. The highest percent improvement was shown by ores – 5,7 mln tons (+35,2%), coal – 89,3 mln tons (+12,0%), grain – 20,6 mln tons (+10,6%), crude oil – 146,4 mln tons (9,8%).
The largest volume of cargo in January-August 2016 was handled by the ports of the Azov-Black Sea basin. The ports of the Baltic Sea are slightly behind since 2015. This is due to the economic and geopolitical factors, resulting in sharp reduction of containerized cargo handling; the influence of the situation in the inland waterways; the turn in economic cooperation to the South and East, which led to a change in the geography of cargo routes. The cargo turnover of seaports for January-August 2016 by the basins is presented in Table 1.
| Arctic basin | Baltic basin | Azov-Black Sea basin | Caspian basin | Far East basin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total, mln tons | 30,0 | 155,3 | 158,0 | 3,7 | 121,5 |
| change, % | + 28,3 | +2,1 | +4,7 | - 19,6 | +8,1 |
| Dry cargo, mln tons | 17,5 | 58,3 | 67,6 | 1,8 | 73,1 |
| change, % | + 8,8 | +0,6 | +12,3 | - 14,0 | +13,6 |
| Bulk cargo, mln tons | 12,5 | 97,0 | 90,4 | 1,9 | 48,4 |
| change, % | + in 1,7 times | +3,1 | - 0,3 | -24,2 | +0,8 |
As for the Azov-Black Sea basin, the largest amount of cargo was handled by Novorossiysk seaport – up to 85,8 mln tons (+1,9%). Increase by over 10% was observed in Kerch – up to 6,2 mln tons (+35,2%), Rostov-na-Donu – up to 8,5 mln tons (+27,7%), Yeisk – up to 2,5 mln tons (+13,0%), Temryuk – up to 1,9 mln tons (+12,4%) and Taman – up to 8,5 mln tons (+10,8%). As of the Baltic Sea, the most effective ports are Ust-Luga with 60,3 mln tons (+5,1%) and Primorsk with 43,3 mln tons (+11,7%).
Development of ports in various regions depends on the geopolitical trends. Taking into account the current anti-sanctions policy, exploration of Arctic and South-East direction is a matter of priority for the state. Transport infrastructure or nets of ports are planned to be created in these regions, that is why cash flows will be primarily directed there. Ports of the Baltic basin will unlikely have to rely on the inflow of investment.
Nevertheless, according to the analysts, Baltic ports will keep leadership by total cargo turnover. However this indicator can be shortly reduced in case of round of crisis or devaluation of rouble. Russian ports in the North-West have an opportunity to pick up cargo from the ports of the nearby Baltic States. Russia plans to continue the reorientation of petroleum products export through its own ports. Multipurpose Sea Cargo Complex (MSCC) Bronka located at the administrative territory of Saint-Petersburg near Lomonosov was commissioned this year to increase in container traffic.
It is important to create the most favorable conditions relating to customs procedures, tariffs, capacity, storage, etc. Since August 1, 2016 the Electronic Declaration Center has been starting to operate in an experimental mode. Back in their day, Russian businessmen have invested in the development of Baltic ports, that is why they will continue cargo handling using their own capacities.
We are among the first who public financial accounts 2015 for 2 328 084 companies provided by the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat).
Accounts have already been preliminary checked and will be published in the Information and analytical system Globas-i® on 27th of September.