Russians want to privatize berths

Officials of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service have returned to the idea of privatization of marine moorages. They expect billions of rubles will enrich the federal budget.

A stevedore will have maximum 35% of berths at one port. This fact causes concerns of large operators, Seafarers Journal reports.

At present all moorages, piers, and lands, allocated for the future development of port infrastructure, are owned by the Government. The privatization will allow the improvement of service quality at ports and the reduction of cargo handling time and mooring time.

However, the legal aspect of this issue is quite complicated. According to experts, the problem is in Russia it is impossible to differentiate between the things at ports, belonging to the Government, and others, belonging to stevedore companies.

Managers of stevedore companies are interested in potential privatization, if the technical state of the facilities is taken into consideration before the sale and the adequate price is defined.

English translation by BSN