Makhachkala is the Russian year-round navigable port, located on the west coast of the Caspian Sea in Dagestan. Makhachkala port handles broad range of cargoes, including crude oil, petroleum products, construction cargo, grain, general and timber cargoes. The port is a gate for trade flows from/to Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Baltic States, as well as transit cargoes to/from Iran, Turkey, Central Asia. The port has rail side tracks operated by the Makhachkala branch of the North-Caucasian Railroad.
State-run Makhachkala Commercial Seaport is the major operator at the port of Makhachkala. In 2010, the company’s cargo throughput rose year-over-year by 27.6% to 5.009 million tons.