Minister: Internal waters of Russia for ships under foreign flags can be opened within WTO accession

The question of opening internal waters of Russia for ships under foreign flags is discussed as part of accession to the World Trade Organization, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said in Baku.

He said now work is conducted on technology of development of internal waterways, which would facilitate the passage of ships under foreign flags and completely removes permitting system.

Now the Azerbaijani ships use the permit granted by the Russian government to enter the Russian internal waters from the Caspian Sea through the Volga-Don canal. This, according to representatives of the Azerbaijan State Caspian Sea Shipping Company, not only creates problems for the passage of ships, but also leads to losses of the Russian side, who do not receive port and other charges.

According to Levitin, today for ships sailing under foreign flags, the easy access to the internal waters of Russia is closed. The required border crossing and customs procedures are being worked out to open these routes.

Currently the possibility of transshipment of this canal is up to 11 million tons of cargo per year, he said, adding that these volumes can not be limited and work is underway to modernize the canal.


/Trend/