Caspian Sea: State of the Environment 2019

In a bid to expand cooperation with the Caspi- an littoral states, the Government of the Russian Federation recently approved a strategy to build new seaports in the Caspian Sea (Government of the Russian Federation 2017). There are three seaports on the Caspian Sea coast in the Russian Federation: two in the Volga delta – Astrakhan and Olya – and one on the western coast of the Middle Caspian – Makhachkala. The largest port by area is the Port of Olya (324 ha), though the Port of Astrakhan has a larger body of water (55 km 2 ). Astrakhan also has the largest number of berths (26), only slightly ahead of Makhachkala with 20 berths. The Port of Olya has four berths. The Port of Astrakhan has the largest through- put capacity, at 9.93 million tons per year, fol- lowed by Makhachkala at 7.26 million tons per year and Olya in last place at 1.58 million tons per year. The total capacity of Russian Federa- tion ports is 18.8 million tons per year. The Port of Olya can only accept dry cargo, while the oth- er ports can also handle containers and liquid cargo. All ports are equipped with covered and uncovered warehouses. All ports are navigable year-round, although ports located in the Volga delta can freeze over during winter, leading to complications (if this happens, vessels are provided with icebreaker as- sistance). Ports located in the Volga delta are un- able to accept ships with a draught of more than 4.5 m. The maximum permissible draught in the Port of Makhachkala is 6.5 m. According to the Association of Marine Com- mercial Ports in the Russian Federation, the turnover of Russian Federation ports in the Caspian Sea is currently significantly lower than capacity. From 2011 to 2017, cargo turn- over decreased from 10.7 to 3.9 million tons. On average, total cargo turnover for 2012–2016 amounted to 7.7 million tons, including 3.5 mil- lion tons of dry cargo and 4.2 million tons of liquid cargo. Average annual turnover during this period was 4.6 million tons at Makhachka- la, 2.7 million tons at Astrakhan, and 0.4 mil- lion tons at the Port of Olya.

State Programme to Develop and Integrate the Transport System Infrastructure of the Republic of Kazakhstan by 2020. The programme envisag- es an increase in the share of goods transported across the Caspian Sea by Kazakhstan from 58 per cent in 2012 to 70 per cent in 2020, as for- eign companies still account for a significant proportion of cargo transported by sea. Over the period from 2016 to 2020, the programme also provides for an increase in the number of Kazakh ships from three to five, an increase in the level of coastal infrastructure provision from 45 to 50 per cent, a reduction in the rate of accidents per 100 ships (seagoing and river vessels) from 1.4 to 1.2 per cent, the construction of a ship repair and shipbuilding plant by 2020, and so on. There are also plans to increase the capacity of Aktau International Sea Trade Port by 2020, from 16.8 to 20.5 million tons. This would require carry- ing out dredging and construction of three dry cargo terminals, and automatization of loading and unloading. Ferry crossings across the Kigach River in the Kurmangazinsky District of Atyrau Region will be modernized (Republic of Kazakh- stan, 2014-2016).

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