Number of Defense Ministry divisions located at the territory of Saint Petersburg has decreased significantly in recent 10-15 years. The issue of plots of land and structures once owned by the Defense Ministry of RF was discussed at the meeting of the Marine Council under Saint Petersburg Government

The project of oil terminal in Vistino Bay was originated by Severo-Zapadnyi Alyans LLC (North-West Alliance). The company was established specially for the project implementation. It is scheduled to start operation in 2009

New form of a unified administrative document will be introduced in Russia from the beginning of the coming year. Cargo Customs Declaration/Transit Declaration (CCD/TD) will enable the use of a unified set of blank forms instead of separate forms for cargo and transit declarations

Nickolai Reshetov, Director General of Russian Maritime Registry of Shipping, has told PortNews IAA about how and where the ship owners may get the ECO sign for their vessels

Container turnover of the port of Saint Petersburg is to reach 1.44 million TEU in 2006 against 1.11 million TEU in 2005. The dynamics of cargo turnover growth could be much higher if stevedores and forwarders managed to decrease delivery period and time needed for containers to be taken out of the port

New tariff rates for railway transportation to Russian ports will rise by almost 11% in 2007. By the moment Russia joins WTO, they will be equal to those for transportation via land border crossings

Forwarding agencies often play a key role in a long chain of cargo transportation from manufacturers to buyers, which may be located at the other side of the world. Forwarders arrange the supply chain of the route ensuring scheduled delivery of the goods. Andrei Savelyev, Director General of Greenway holding company, has told PortNews IAA about specific features of this business

In January-October 2006 the captain service of Saint Petersburg port registered 11 cases of oil spills involving the vessels and a number of cases when oil products leaked into the harbor waters from adjacent industrial facilities. Thus, in the 10-month period of the current year, the ship owners happened to beat the notorious record of the previous year

Cargo turnover of the port of Saint Petersburg is decreasing, though it does not prevent sale of oil products from growing at the regional bunker market. Bunker suppliers of Saint Petersburg have managed to satisfy growing demand having sold 1.4 million tons of marine fuel in the first half of 2006

One of the major factors hindering development of Saint Petersburg port is insufficient traffic capacity of road approaches to the port