Russia's river-shipping sector carried 117.5 million tons of cargo last year, registering a healthy 14.3 percent growth over 1999. But results were mixed in different regions and river systems.

The largest increases were seen in shipment of construction materials, such as sand and stone, which rose by 10.7 million tons; logs, up 600,000 tons; other timber cargoes, up 630,000 tons; oil, oil products, and fertilizers.

Export cargoes carried by Russia's river fleet increased mainly due to increase of steel shipments by Severstal, Russia's leading steelmaker. Other gains in exports were registered in southern Russia for metals and scrap shipped through the Azov and Rostov-on-Don ports; coal through the Ust-Donets and Eysk ports; and sulfur through Astrakhan.

At the same time, there was a decline in coal cargo volumes in the Amur River basin (down by 242,000 tons); the Yenisei River (down by 78,000 tons); and the Lena River (down by 70,000 tons). River port authorities told The Russia Journal the reason for this was that local coalmines increased their production, thus reducing the need for imports.

Grain and wheat volume fell by 70,000 tons, as farm output recovered from the 1999 harvest losses and interregional transfers were no longer necessary.

Passenger traffic on the Russian river system rose slightly from 23.9 million passengers in 1999 to 24.6 million in 2000.

Processing of cargo at the river ports reached 150 million tons, according to a Transport Ministry report made available to The Russia Journal. This was an increase of 11.6 percent over 1999.

Further growth in the river ports will be difficult, the report says, because of a lack of new port cranes. An estimated 95 percent of the cranes currently at work are foreign-made, but at least 40 percent of them are beyond repair. Obsolescence and lack of repair are even worse for floating cranes and other mooring equipment.

Alexander Alexandrovich, general director of AMS-Volgotanker, the leading Russian river company, said last year's increase in transport of oil and refined products was limited to export routes. He blamed the current domestic tariff for being too high for domestic shippers.

"This winter was difficult for us, since it was cold and rivers were frozen," Alexandrovich told The Russia Journal, "so we didn't do as much business [as the river system can permit]. Our operations on external routes in the Caspian, Baltic and Black Seas were also rather limited due to the fact that with the smaller tankers that we have we are unable to get good rates."

Volgotanker, Alexandrovich said, will continue to specialize in liquid cargoes, and is thinking of building new 5,000-ton tankers at the Rybinsk shipyard that the company recently acquired near Moscow. Roman Trotsenko, general director of Moscow Shipping Company, told The Russia Journal "we have felt the increase of the volume of transportation by river transport last year. Our total tonnage of transported cargo went up by 25.5 percent compared to 1999. This was especially felt in construction-mineral cargoes. My explanation for that is the increased activity of the [federal] Road Fund."

"However, the year 2000 was the last in the existence of the fund, and it is now abolished. So I expect the volume of transportation for this type of cargo will go down in 2001."

According to Trotsenko, the big hope of the river shippers this year is that the domestic rail tariff for freight will rise by the 25 percent that the Railways Ministry has announced. "This will give the river shipping companies a new flow of large-volume but cheaper cargoes that will switch from railways to river shipping."

Trotsenko forecasts flat to modest growth in the volume of export cargoes, such as metals, fertilizers, crude oil and oil products. "The fact is," he told The Russia Journal, "the capacities for transportation of these cargoes are now used to the fullest, and there is no room for growth." Moscow River shipping expects a big leap in passenger transportation this year, with the growth of foreign tourists flowing into Russia for northern and southern (Volga River) cruises expected to jump by 12 percent. According to Trotsenko, "We will take delivery of two four-deck passenger ships from Ukraine. By the end of the year, we will get two more on long-term bareboat charter with an option to buy."

"There is also increased interest in luxury-class charter of smaller vessels. The Moscow ship construction and repairs plant, which is part of our group, will launch production of 36-meter long vessels. We plan to invest $1.5 million in this project this year, and expect to start construction of six vessels of that type."

In all, Transport Ministry figures indicate that 50 new vessels were built for the Russian river fleet last year; this compares with 68 in 1999, 43 in 1998 and 34 in 1997. Most of the higher-cost vessels built were tankers or oil and ore carriers.

This year, domestic shipyards have an order book that includes 10 5,000-ton tankers for the Northwestern Shipping Company to be built by Severnaya Verf (Northern Shipyard, St. Petersburg). Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad and Krasniye Barrikady shipyard in Astrakhan are building 20 5,000-ton tankers for Volgotanker.