River ports to regions
Russian regions can create and develop there own ports now. A corresponding law was signed by Russian President on November 25, 2008. Experts think the law will be useful mainly for regions crossed by international transport corridors.
New powers and new opportunities
The bill “On River Ports”, the full name of which is the Federal Law “On General Principles of Organization of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Public Authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation", has been passed by the State Duma in three readings and then approved by the Federation Council this autumn. The document contains two clauses.
First of all, the bill empowers regional authorities to solve issues related to maintenance, development and organization of operation in river ports hosting the property owned by the RF entity. New powers are to be executed by the RF entities for account of the regional budget (excluding Federal budget subventions).
Besides, the document also contains an extended list of property which may be owned by a RF constituent entity. It is the property located in the territory of a river port which is requires for maintenance, development and organization of operation. Exceptions are to be approved by the RFGovernment. “For example, a RF entity may not own hydraulic engineering facilities of inland waterways being federal property according to Inland Water Transport Code and some other types of property,” Viktor Usachev, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Federal Affairs and Regional Policy.
According to the Ministry of Transport, there are 131 river ports in 49 entities of the Russian Federation including 15 international ports. Every year Russian river ports handle some 230 million tonnes of cargo and some 20 million passengers.
The concept of a river port was introduced by the RF Code of Inland Water Transport. River port is a complex of facilities located within a plot of land and water area of inland waterways, equipped for servicing passengers and vessels, loading, unloading, accepting and storing of cargo as well as cooperation with other types of transport. Berths and berth complexes of all Russian ports are a federal property owned by Rosimushchestvo (Federal Property Management Agency).
As Viktor Usachev told PortNews IAA, the document contributes to delineate authorities between the federal center and the regions. “This law blends in with the program of activities put forward by the RF President in his Address to the Federal Assembly on November 5, 2008. The task is to optimally balance delineation of authorities between the Federation and the regions. According to Dmitri Medvedev, it is necessary to decide how much and what property do the regions require”. Only strict delineation of authorities and property will enable the federal center and the entities to execute their functions in full, Mr. Usachev notes. The document legitimates allocation of the regional budget resources for maintenance and modernization of the above river ports, which was not possible before”.
According to Venedikt Sulaberidze, Executive Director, Association of Ports and Shipowners of the Rivet Transport, the law is to formalize in legislation the possibility to delegate the existing river ports to regional authorities where it is reasonable and river ports are needed for economic development solutions without prejudice to general interregional transport interests.
According to Mr. Usachev, implementation of this legislative act will contribute to more efficient state management of river port property: “New ways for innovations appear, regional authorities’ opportunities for port development grow”.
How much is the port construction?
Experts think the law is necessary mainly for the regions with well developed transport network.
“According to the document the regions and municipalities are to get an opportunity of creating their own ports. I think it is right. Plenty of private ports have been being built recently. Why cannot the regions do the same?,” Mr. Sulaberidze comments.
According to Leonid Terebnev, Chairman of the Committee for Transport and Transport Infrastructure, delegation of powers on operation of the existing river ports is also likely to be useful: “Infrastructure of many river ports is practically ownerless now being deteriorating without a proper maintenance. Earlier regions were not entitled to invest into it.
As Olga Shershneva, head of the Design Development Department of LITER Group, told PortNews IAA, this practice has been used is western countries for a long time. Municipal ports are widespread there. “As for Russia, I can think of the only example – Sviyazhski logistics multimodal complex the structure of which includes a river port. Besides federal resources, considerable investments of Tatarstan Rebulic are planned for the project implementation. The regions crossed by international transport corridors as well as Far North regions including Krasnoyarsk region, where inland waterways are actively used, are especially interested in creation of new ports and upgrading of the existing ones”.
Experts say public-private partnership is the most efficient way for financing of regional river ports construction.
How much is a port likely to cost the region? Experts say creation of fully operative berths alone may cost some RUR 4-5 billion.
“The expenses are to be paid back due to throughput increase,” Ms. Shershneva thinks. Apart from this, warehouses, railways and motorways may be built to convert a port into a multimodal complex. This infrastructure will be in demand throughout a year which means work places and considerable tax revenue. However, practical implementation of these ideas may be hindered by the economic crises. “A big issue is how to raise money as the situation is aggravated by the global economic crises,” Ms. Shershneva says.