Astrakhan Region Ready to Increase Transshipment Volumes of Belarusian Cargo through Its Ports

Astrakhan Region has announced its readiness to increase the volume of transshipment of Belarusian cargo through its ports. This was stated by Astrakhan Region Governor Igor Babushkin at a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, BELTA reports.

"We have established the process of cargo transit through the ports of Astrakhan Region. Today, our ports have the potential to transship 16 million tons of cargo. Our port workers have modernized their capacities to meet the conditions of cargo transit from Belarus to Southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf. Cargo is coming. This is timber, paper, machinery, fertilizers. And we are ready to significantly increase the volume of cargo transshipment. The conditions for increasing the volume of cargo transshipment are very clear, and we are discussing them within the framework of our joint working group," the governor said.

Igor Babushkin said that, on the instructions of the President of Russia, conditions have been created for the full loading of all ships that go along the Volga-Caspian Canal. Passage depths of 4.5 m have been ensured, which made it possible to increase cargo transit through the ports of Astrakhan in the amount of 6 million tons last year. "There has not been such a result for decades. This suggests that the conditions for the transit of goods in the direction of the Caspian Sea and in the opposite direction have been sufficiently created today," the head of the region emphasized. He also noted that the previous meeting with the President of Belarus in December 2021 gave an additional impetus to the development of relations between the Astrakhan Region and the Republic of Belarus. Then an agreement was signed and a roadmap was formed, which included a wide range of areas for the development of cooperation. The parties are currently not only trading, but have also established close cooperation in a number of areas.