- Статьи
- Economy
- We arrived at the port today: it has been decided to develop a network of sea terminals in Russia
We arrived at the port today: it has been decided to develop a network of sea terminals in Russia
It is planned to build 17 terminals in Russian seaports by 2036. In addition, work is planned on the creation and renovation of 25 water transport infrastructure facilities. The new facilities will increase cargo transshipment and redirect part of the export flows to the markets of Asia and the Global South. At the same time, the implementation of the projects will require the simultaneous development of the railway infrastructure and the fleet. How much investment will be required and how this will affect trade is described in the Izvestia article.
Distribution plans
The comprehensive infrastructure development plan provides for the construction and reconstruction of 25 water transport facilities in the period from 2025 to 2036: Russia intends to build 17 new terminals in seaports. Three projects are planned in the Arctic basin, two of them are located on the coast of the Northern Sea Route. Another 12 facilities are terminal complexes in the Far Eastern Basin. The relevant plans are included in a comprehensive document approved by the Government in August 2025.
In addition to the marine infrastructure, the program involves the renovation of about 4.5 thousand km of railways and over 2 thousand km of highways. Modernization of social facilities and airport infrastructure is also envisaged.
For the period 2025-2030, 541.1 billion rubles will be allocated for the development of the industry as part of the Comprehensive Infrastructure Development Plan until 2036 and the federal project "Development of the backbone network of seaports". At the same time, the total potential of the port investment market for the next decade is estimated at 2.3–2.4 trillion rubles.
Among the major projects is the LNG complex in the Ur Bay with a capacity of 20.4 million tons per year, completed in 2032 and with investments of over 70 billion rubles. The Aurora Seaport coal terminal in Primorsky Krai is designed for 25 million tons annually, its launch is scheduled for 2030, and investments exceed 60 billion rubles.
The Ust-Luga universal terminal with a capacity of 24.3 million tons is being created in the Leningrad Region. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2030, and the investment volume is estimated at 45-50 billion rubles. In Vanino, the Port Alliance Group of companies is expanding the Osterra terminal to 40 million tons per year, the current stage requires 11.6 billion rubles.
A separate area is the Arctic Basin and the Northern Sea Route. The projects include a terminal in Sabetta with a capacity of 10 million tons by 2027, and the Ministry of Transport estimates the total public and private investments in the port infrastructure of the Northern Sea Route at more than 400 billion rubles.
Financing of the port industry is usually distributed in a ratio of about 1 to 3: about 25% falls on the budget, and 75% on private capital. Government funds are allocated to dredging, canals, protective structures and security, while businesses finance berths, warehouses and technological equipment.
Impact on trade
By 2036, the construction of 17 new sea terminals is capable of adding over 200 million tons of annual capacity to Russian ports. Such an infrastructure will create conditions for redirecting export flows from the European market to the countries of the Global South and the Asia-Pacific region. The most noticeable increase will be in coal and coke — 40-50 million tons. The main role will be played by the facilities of the Far East, including the port of Aurora and the modernization of Vanino.
LNG transshipment capacity will increase by more than 30 million tons thanks to the hub in Murmansk (Ura Bay), as well as terminals in Yamal and Gydan. This will expand Russia's presence in the global LNG market, including through ice-class tankers.
The container infrastructure will receive an additional 1.5–2 million twenty-foot containers per year. The new facilities will help ensure the import of electronics and equipment and increase exports of timber products. Another 20-25 million tons of capacity will be created for mineral fertilizers, primarily in the Baltic basin, including Ust-Luga. This will create an opportunity to abandon the use of Baltic ports for the export of Russian chemical products.
The main limitation remains the railway infrastructure. If the expansion of the BAM and Transsib does not keep pace with the development of ports, some of the Far Eastern terminals may face a shortage of cargo. An additional problem is the fleet: the new Arctic and eastern routes will require more than 50 large vessels, including bulk carriers, gas carriers and ice—class container ships. Sanctions and difficulties with the supply of marine equipment can delay their construction.
With the implementation of all projects, the total capacity of Russian ports can reach 1.1–1.2 billion tons per year. Deepwater terminals will also allow for more active use of Capesize and Panamax class vessels, which, due to the scale of transportation, will potentially reduce maritime logistics costs by about 15-20%.
It is necessary to expand the port infrastructure now not so much because of the lack of total capacity, but because of changes in the geography and structure of cargo flows, Dmitry Evdokimov, a researcher at the IPEI Research Center for Spatial Analysis and Regional Diagnostics at the Presidential Academy, told Izvestia. Russia needs terminals of the required specialization in the ports of the Far East, the Arctic, the Caspian Sea, the Northwest and the Azov-Black Sea basin. This will support the reorientation of trade, increase the sustainability of export logistics, and eliminate local constraints. At the same time, terminals need to be developed synchronously with railway and automobile approaches, inland waterways and border infrastructure.
The construction of port infrastructure facilities is part of the strategy for the development of the entire transport complex of the country, which can be called a key factor in strengthening the Russian economy, Anastasia Priklyova, Associate Professor of the Department of International Business at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, told Izvestia. After all, infrastructure projects support related industries in their implementation, and also have a long-term effect, improving a number of indicators from logistics to the social sphere. In particular, we are talking about increasing the capacity of ports, which is important for foreign trade, especially against the background of the redistribution of goods flows to the east. Moreover, the BAM and Transsib development projects are being implemented in parallel, but the planned effect can be achieved only if the port infrastructure is developed. Otherwise, everything will rest on the limited capacity of ports, which will become a bottleneck, limiting the potential growth of exports, imports and transit.
"In addition, the importance of developing port infrastructure is justified by plans for the development of the Northern Sea Route, including its transit potential," she said. — And of course, we must not forget about such an important element of the spatial development of the country as the northern delivery, for which the port infrastructure is the basis along with the railway connection.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the press service of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy, but no responses had been received at the time of publication.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
