State support measures are required for development of North-South transport corridor – Victor Olersky

State support measures are required for the development of North-South transport corridor, Victor Olersky, Deputy Transport Minister of Russia – Head of Federal Marine and River Transport Agency, said at the Investment Forum in Sochi. According to him, attractiveness of Russian ports in the Caspian Sea is influenced, first of all, by the customs costs. In this respect, an agreement should be reached with Kazakhstan. 

As for the logistics chain, discounts for railway transportation and organisation of a regular transcaspian service is needed. This will require subsidizing which can be reduced later. Besides, optimization of customs formalities and development of a single transport document is needed. 

Victor Olersky also said it is not economically reasonable to build a large boxship of 1,700 TEUs for the Caspian Sea through private investments.

As regards cruise shipping in the Caspian Sea,  Victor Olersky also sees the need of state support since investment into construction of large cruise terminals will not pay back on their own.