Cargo navigation at upper Volga is opened from April 24. The solemn ceremony was held at the lock facilities of Gorodetski hydraulic complex, NIA reports.
6 vessels of Volga Shipping Company passed the locks: a icebreaking push-boat, 2 Volga-Don m/v and 3 push-boats with barges took a course to Cherepovets to be loaded with metal and fertilizers.
According to Aleksandr Shishkin, Managing Director of Volga Shipping Company, the volumes to be carried during navigation 2009 will be similar to those of 2008 when the company carried 6.9 million tonnes of cargo and 454,000 passengers. During a month from the opening of navigation at lower Volga the company transported 100 tonnes of export sulfur. 16 vessels of Volga Shipping operate at lower Volga.
According to Aleksandr Smirnov, head of FSE Volga State Basin Administration of Waterways and Navigation, “current ice situation is difficult at Volga”. In summer, the water level is expected to be the same as in previous summer.
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