GlobalPORT-2011 «St.Petersburg — the Sea Capital of RUSSIA. Transport and transit potential»

On the 20-21 of September 2011 within the framework of the "UNITED RUSSIA" Party Project "St. Petersburg - the Sea Capital of Russia" the IV International Conference "Transport and Transit Potential" was held. The conference took place in St. Petersburg in the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library.

At the initiative of the United National Front the Conference became the key platform for the formation of the final proposals for the transport block of the National Programme of transport and transport infrastructure development in Russia.

Opening speeches were made by Member of the Supreme Council Bureau of the Party “UNITED RUSSIA” Arthur Chilingarov and Chairman of the legislative assembly of St.Petersburg Vadim Tulpanov.

The Conference was opened with a block of speeches on public policy issues of the transport sector. Leaders of Ministry of Transport summed up the first results of the Federal Program "Development of transport system of the Russian Federation (2010 - 2015)".

A report on the role of the "Russian Railways" in the implementation of transport and transit potential was made by the President of JSC "RZD" Vladimir Yakunin. In his speech he stressed that the deficit of investment in railway transport development till 2015 amounts to 400 billion rubles now. As for solution, he proposes to issue infrastructure bonds of the Russian Federation, with a subsequent payment of outside funds to the nominal capital of JSC "RZD". In addition, it is proposed to continue the improvement of the tariff policy, to optimize own expenses of "RZD", as well as to use the potential of the internal ruble market, in particular, to raise money from public funds.

The management of "Rosmorport" told about the implementation of the strategy of the Russian sea ports infrastructure development. The other important issues of the "governmental" block, discussed at the Conference were problems and prospects of cooperation within the framework of the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, the creation of new high-tech border crossing points, current issues and the implementation of the concept of moving the customs authorities in places close to state border, the development of transport hubs as a tool to create a regional transport and logistics system. The issues of flexible and transparent policy of tariff rates, improvement of the legal framework for freight transportation were also considered. The heads of the Federal Customs Service and Federal Service for Tariffs of the Russian Federation made reports on these very actual topics.

At the I Plenary Session the "St. Petersburg - the Sea Capital of Russia" Project Director, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Vadim Tulpanov passed to the St. Petersburg’s government the batch of documents for modernization of bus passenger traffic in St. Petersburg, prepared by the working group of the Project.

The next block of the Conference was devoted to the modernization of the transport system. It was opened with a report devoted to the assessment of the port-logistics special economic zones’ efficiency. Heads of several territorial subjects of the federation described the development of port facilities in their regions. The following reports were submitted for consideration: the formation of the international transport corridor "Western Europe - Western China" within the framework of the cooperation of countries - members of SCO, the international experience in the improvement of the multimodal transportation efficiency.

Working sessions of the Conference were structured by the types of transport.

The session "Motor transportation" was aimed at a wide range of the most pressing sectoral issues including ensuring drivers and loads security, the problem of responsibilities distribution between the parties of the transport chain, changes in the procedure of passing the examination, the transition to standard "Euro-3" fuel and the introduction of the "single window" principle on the customs border. The issues of provision of the necessary facilities for trucks checkpoints, road infrastructure development, construction of expressways and toll roads and the organization of outsized cargo transportation were raised. The prospects for the development of the Institute of SROs in the field of freight transportation were discussed.

The session "Railway transportation" was devoted to the possibility of increasing the carrying capacity of the international transport corridor "East-West", international railway transportation projects in the "North-South" and "West-East" directions, the problem of rolling stock shortage, the creation of the terminal and logistics centers’ system throughout the railway network, the experience of intermodal transportation.

The presentation of river transport development strategy of the Russian Federation until 2030 was made on the session "Sea and river transportation". The following issues were discussed on the session: the modernization of ports of Russia; the possibilities of the Northern Sea Route for transcontinental transportation and domestic needs of the Russian Federation. The creation of a unified state pilotage service, practical examples of resources consolidation in the engineering and construction of port infrastructure were also considered. News Agency Portnews acted as a partner for this working session.

The Conference "Transport and Transit Potential" was held with the support and participation of the Ministry of Transport, Federal Agency for Sea and River Transport, Federal Agency of Railway Transport, Federal Highways Agency, the Federal Service for Transport Supervision and the Federal Water Resources Agency, the Federal Customs Service, Federal Tariff Service and Rosgranitsa.

It was attended by the heads of the executive and legislative branches of more than 30 regions of Russia. The delegations of Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Mongolia, Latvia, Estonia were represented. The Conference was attended by representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation, consulates general of Sweden, Finland, South Korea, Poland and Lithuania.

Among the Conference delegates were cargo and ship owners, the owners of rolling stock, vehicle fleet, representatives of transport, investment, insurance, leasing, logistics, forwarding and stevedoring companies. Representatives of banks, administrations of sea and river ports, leaders of professional unions and associations took part in the Conference.

The partners of the Conference were "Russian cruises", "Luding - Saint-Petersburg", State Transport Leasing Company.

Resolution of the Conference will be the basis of the transport block of the National Programme of All-Russian National Front. The suggestions and proposals of resolution will be sent to the committees of the State Duma, departments and agencies to improve legislation and government regulation in the sphere of transport.