On June 3, 2016, RF President Vladimir Putin signed the Federal Law “On Amendments into the Merchant Shipping Code of the Russian Federation and Articles 17 and 19 of the Federal Law “On seaports of the Russian Federation and on introduction of amendments into certain legislation acts of the Russian Federation””, says the press center of RF Transport Ministry.
Under the Law, sea lines will be registered upon the decision of Federal Marine and River Transport Agency (Rosmorrechflot) for at least six months or a navigation period.
Operators of sea lines should approve schedules for the entire period operation of the line operation with a possibility to introduce amendments after three months of the line functioning. Schedules and information on the cost of services should be available at the official websites of the operators.
The document stipulates certain state preferences. According to the law, operators should pay the port charges in full for the entire period of the line functioning, but no more than for 6 month in case of deregistration by the decision of the state registration authority. This will prevent taking advantage of preferences without establishing of an operational sea line.