November 22, 2008

Russia and Turkey to improve Black Sea connectivity

It is reported that the Turkish government is preparing to work out an agreement with Russia to install and manage a railway ferry connection between the Turkish port of Samsun and the Russian port of Kavkaz on the Black Sea coast.

The announcement was made during the Yugtrans-2008 conference in Istanbul by Mr Aleksander Davidenk, chairman of the Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport in Russia's Transport Ministry.

Mr Davidenk said that “We are working to connect Kavkaz and Samsun, both port cities that have access to railways, with a ferry connection. Our aim is to develop rail and road systems in the Black Sea region. The new railway-ferry connection is aimed at providing the necessary infrastructure for a decisive increase in trade volumes between Turkey and Russia and also to take pressure off the road network.”

The Turkish Russian ferry connection project comes within a wider Russian plan to upgrade and enlarge its foothold on the Black Sea. Mr Davidenk said that “We are working on several port projects, among them construction of a new port in Taganrog, on the north shore of the Sea of Azov, and reconstruction of the port of Sochi to serve an increasing volume of cruise passengers. This month we are also testing a ferry rail line to Varna in Bulgaria, which is expected to begin operating by the end of the year. In addition, Russia plans the construction of a deep water port in Murmansk in the Kola Bay to provide capacity for 28.5 million tonnes annually as a first step, to be upgraded to 50 million tonnes by 2020.”