Rais of Tatarstan: It is necessary to make maximum use of the potential of the river infrastructure of the republic

On 30 January during the resulting collegium of the Ministry of Transport and Road economy of the republic held at the Kazan Expo Exhibition Center,  the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and the Head of  Buryatia Alexei Tsydenov, who is also the Chairman of the Russian State Council Commission of Efficient Transport System, took part in a round table meeting on the topic of “ Prospects for the development of river freight transport in cooperation with rail and road transport” which was moderated by the regional Minister of Transport and Road Economy Farit Khanifov. 

Speaking at the meeting, Rustam Minnikhanov stated that to develop the economy of the republic it is currently important to increase the number of logistics chains thus expanding opportunities of export transportation. “It is necessary to make maximum use of the potential of the river infrastructure of the republic and restore the existing port and berthing infrastructure, and also to build new facilities in accordance with modern requirements and equip them with road and rail access roads for the implementation of multimodal logistics,” he emphasized. 

He noted that the navigation of Tatarstan rivers could ensure the transportation of goods from the Baltic to the Caspian and Black Sea basins, including along the North-South international transport corridor, but at the same time added that railways play the most important role in the development of the multimodal freight transportation logistics of the republic and international transport corridors. “Taking into account the prospective development of production capacities of the republic, the issue of developing railway infrastructure with electrification, connected to Tatarstan logistics centers, should be considered jointly with Russian Railways,” Rustam Minnikhanov said and thanked the Russian Government and Russian Ministry of Transport for the attention they attach to issues of the development of federal and international freight transportation in regions.

“I am sure that through joint efforts, Tatarstan will become a key region in the development of multimodal transportation,” the Rais of the republic added.

Russian Minister of Transport Andrey Nikitin stated that the location of Tatarstan on the Volga, a key waterway in Eastern Europe, allows the republic to play a significant role in the development of international transport corridors, including the North-South corridor. “We consider Tatarstan to be a starting point for active development of inland waterways. The republic is demonstrating its readiness to implement these decisions,” the Minister said and informed that it is planned to sign an agreement between the republic and the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport of Russia on subsidizing the maintenance of the fleet and internal waterways infrastructure. 

In his turn Deputy Russian Minister of Transport Boris Tashimov emphasized that one of priority tasks is to restore the cargo turnover on internal water transport as a continuing decline in freight traffic volumes is currently being recorded. Based on the results of last year, the reduction amounted to 14% compared to 2024, he said and added: “ Joint work to attract cargo is important.”