Big Port of St. Petersburg is likely to be handed over under the jurisdiction of St. Petersburg, Vyacheslav Popov, Chairman of the National Maritime Policy Committee (under the Council of Federations) told journalists according to RBC. Mr. Popov says there are examples in global practice and he does not rule out such a possibility for the port of St. Petersburg.
The amendments into the federal law on seaports envisaging accretion of power for the constituent entities of the federation in terms of port management is to be considered by the State Duma during autumn session of 2008.
As Popov announced earlier, Sea Port of St. Petersburg is likely to become the first port to get the status of Special Economic Zone.
Seaport of St. Petersburg is located on the islands in the Neva Bay in the eastern part of the Finnish Gulf of the Baltic Sea. The port’s water area comprises 5 basins with a total area covering 360 hectares. The port’s territory is 269 hectares. The port is linked with the sea by a 27-mile long Marine Canal.