New terminals to increase cargo capacity of Olya port to 4 mln tonnes

Olya, Russia (Ports Europe) October 5, 2022 – Two new terminals to increase cargo capacity of Olya port to 4 million tonnes. The reconstruction of berths No. 8 and No. 9 in Olya will be completed in 2023. The first terminals of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Russia's Caspian Sea port of Olya will become operational in 2023, Sergey Milushkin, General Director of Lotos SEZ said during the Maritime Congress in Moscow. This will increase cargo handling capacity of the port to 3-4 million tonnes per year. Half of the capacity will be containers. For Russia, Olya is an export/import gateway that bypasses the western sanctions. It is part of measures to develop cargo transportation along the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which since February has become a critical transport solution for heavily sanctioned Russia. The site is equipped for containerised cargo handling, storage facilities and access railway lines. “Next year we will launch the first terminals that will allow us to transship 3 million tonnes of cargo,” Milushkin said. “But this is only the first stage. During the second phase, we plan to use the natural bays of the Volga River to reach 20 million tonnes. In the future, up to 50 million tonnes of transshipment cargo along this route”. SEZ Lotos is also planning to provide a 50-hectare site for the creation of a logistics centre for landlocked Turkmenistan. Sanctions-hit Belarus is also looking for space there. Olya is in the Limansky District of the Astrakhan Region on the bank of Bakhtemir River connecting Volga River with the Caspian Sea. Sanctions Currently, the North-South corridor is very important for Russia. Primarily it is key for the European regions of Russia that want to supply products to the Middle East, Southeast Asia and China. “We already have experience of transport through Iran. We are now registering a joint venture to ensure transit through Iran by joint Russian-Iranian companies, providing cargo insurance, security, speed of delivery, and a European approach to handling these cargoes”, Milushkin said. In a related issue, a Chinese company might build a container factory in Lotos SEZ in an attempt to at least partly solve the acute containers shortage in western sanctions hit Russia. Milushkin said: “China proposed to produce the entire line of containers, including reefer and sea 40-foot containers”. It is expected that the plant will primarily provide containers for the North-South international transport corridor – the main route for bypassing sanctions. It cannot operate at full capacity party due to shortage of containers. There is a massive reorientation of cargo flows in Russia’s water transport segment. Russian companies are launching regular sea services to India and China. This is because they are unable to trade with Europe and the United States. INSTC The International North-South Transport Corridor is a multi modal transportation with the purpose of promoting transport cooperation among member states. It connects India Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran, and is then connected to Saint Petersburg in Russia. There is a rush of logistics-related activity in the Caspian Sea where Russia and Iran have the distinction of being the two most-sanctioned countries in the world. More Ports Europe news about Russian ports Copyright (C) Ports Europe. All Rights Reserved. 2022.

New terminals to increase cargo capacity of Olya port to 4 mln tonnes

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New terminals to increase cargo capacity of Olya port to 4 mln tonnes

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