BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 5
By Zhale Qasimova – Trend:
The Senate of Kazakhstan adopted a law "On Ratification of the Agreement on Shipping", which will allow increasing the transit transportation up to 250,000-300,000 tons of cargo per year through the Russian waterways by 2025, Trend reports with reference to the Kazakh media.
This agreement on shipping was signed among the member-states of the Eurasian Economic Union.
"The main provisions of the agreement on shipping are aimed at the simplification of the permitting procedure for the transit passage of ships via the inland waterways of the parties,” Vice Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan Berik Kamaliev said.
“In particular, the deadline for considering an application for a transit passage is 10 days,” Kamaliev said. “A permit will be issued by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation. Among all the countries involved in the agreement, only Russia has inland waterways, through which transit navigation of ships is possible.”
“Presently, a permit for a transit passage is issued by the government of the Russian Federation and its receipt takes from 3 to 6 months,” vice-minister added. “Today, cargoes from ports on the Black Sea to Kazakhstan’s ports (Aktau, Kuryk, Bautino, Atyrau) are transited through the Volga-Don shipping channel.”
"As only the Kazakh companies will have an opportunity of the simplified passage through the Russian inland waterways, presently, the Caspian countries (Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan), which are not members of the Eurasian Union, are showing interest in using Kazakhstan’s carriers (Kazmortransflot, OMS shipping) for the carriage of goods from ports in the Caspian Sea to the ports on the Black Sea,” the vice minister said.
“The transit potential of Aktau and Kuryk ports along the Trans-Caspian international transport route is increasing,” the vice minister said. “Accordingly, taking into account the adoption of the agreement, it is possible to increase transit transportation through the Russian waterways up to 250,000-300,000 tons of cargo per year by 2025."
"Further, it is necessary to transfer bilateral shipments to a notification procedure,” the vice minister said. “Annually, till April 1, the authorized bodies will agree on preliminary lists of ships that will carry out bilateral shipments.”
“If necessary, these lists can be corrected during the year,” the vice minister said. “At the same time, with the adoption of the agreement, Kazakhstan’s carriers will be able to transport cargo by the river not only within the Irtysh basin but also with access to the Ob River.”
“The issue of resuming bilateral cargo transportation among the ports of Atyrau and the Volga ports of Astrakhan and Volgograd is also being considered,” Kamaliev said. “Thus, it is projected to increase the volume of cargo transportation by the river in this direction up to 1.5 million tons by 2025.”
“Third, the agreement envisages the process of providing equal conditions by the sides for access to the port services, as well as mutual recognition of ship documents and documents of ship crew members,” the vice minister said. “This will simplify the inspection of ships by the controlling structures in the ports of the parties to the agreement.”
“As part of the implementation of the agreement, the parties plan to adopt an interministerial agreement to establish requirements for the minimum number of crews of ships," Kamaliev added.