Aleksandr Lukashenko earlier emphasized the need “to make the maximum use of the Russian ports” to ship Belarus’ goods
Belarus is set to complete the purchase of the multifunctional sea transshipping complex Bronka in the Port of St. Petersburg in 2023, BelTA cites Belarus' Transport and Communications Minister Aleksei Avramenko as telling journalists prior to the final collegium of the ministry.
“We operate the Bronka terminal as a base port for the transshipment of Belarusian cargo in the Port of St. Petersburg. It is already used to transship our main export items. The deal is in the works; I think it will be completed in the near future. The deal is about the purchase,” said Aleksei Avramenko.
MSCC Bronka (Multipurpose Sea Cargo Complex Bronka) is the only deep-water terminal in Great Port of Saint-Petersburg able to accommodate vessels of up to 347 meters in length, up to 50 meters in width and up to 13 meters in draft. As of today, MSCC Bronka is able to handle about 1.9 million TEUs and over 200,000 units of vehicles and special equipment per year.
Before 2017, MSCC Bronka was owned by holding Forum held by Dmitry Mikhalchenko who was accused of corruption. In February 2022, RF Government published a decree on handling over 100% of the federally owned MSCC Bronka to State Corporation Rostec. The Federal Property Management Agency was assigned to carry out the change of ownership within a 12-month period.
As of October 2022, MSCC is run by management company Interactive Internet Systems (IIS), According to the sources of IAA PortNews, the company is connected with the Belorussian shippers.
According to earlier reports of IAA PortNews, the Republic of Belarus had announced its plans to transport up to 850 thousand tonnes of cargo via the Astrakhan Region by 2024 and to build a terminal in the Murmansk Region able to handle 5-7 million tonnes of Belarus’ potash per year.
When holding a meeting to discuss the creation of port facilities to export Belarusian products in summer 2022, Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized the need “to make the maximum use of the Russian ports” to ship Belarus’ goods.