FESCO Transportation Group is consolidating its assets and focusing on container service business. In a recent interview with PortNews FESCO’s President Sergei Generalov has told on the sale of the Group’s noncore assets and outlook of traffic on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Cargo traffic at Russian ports in 2011 will reach 535 million tons. This is a record figure in the history of Russian stevedoring businesses. However, the internal rules of control authorities, the slow implementation of electronic cargo declaration, excessive requirements to sea border crossing points hamper further development and the competitiveness of Russian ports.

An issue of creation of a logistics infrastructure oriented to northern posts arises as more and more tankers and bulkers venture voyages on the Northern Sea Route, one after another successfully passing the Arctic trade lane. All this entails regional rivalry.

Sovcomflot is celebrating 5-year anniversary of its fleet of gas carriers. In a recent interview, Dmitriy Rusanov, head of the gas division of JSC SCF told PortNews how the company has managed to enter this market, about the current situation, the plans for the development of the ‘gas arm’ of SCF and about possibility of bunkering vessels with LNG.

Actually, St. Petersburg was never considered a transit region for grain cargo - there are no specialized port terminals or harbor silos. However, the situation may change with the development of off-dock terminals, transshipping grain into containers. Parnas-APK told PortNews about the company’s plans for the expansion of such services.

The world’s leading corporation in the sphere of construction of marine infrastructural objects – “Boskalis” – intends to strengthen its activity in Russia.

There are major container terminals operating in the northwest of Russia with new ones under construction. In a recent interview with PortNews Managing Director of Delta Shipping Agency in St. Petersburg Kirill Ivanov shared the container operator’s vision on container market of Russia’s North-West, and the company's plans.

Any shipping company in Russia has to solve the common issues such as ships manning, training of seafarers, requirements that crew members of ‘river-sea’ vessels should have several diplomas, employment and how to keep employees. Vice President Rauf Aliyev has told PortNews in a recent interview how Palmali Group handles the issues.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree that gives the green light to privatization of Federal State Unitary Enterprise Atomflot (part of State Corporation Rosatom) and its nuclear-powered icebreakers. This prepares the legal framework for corporatization of the state-owned enterprise.

The need to create a modern fleet for offshore fields as well as the development of Russia’s inland waterways for transits flows prompted the government to focus more on shipbuilding and shipbuilding.