Делегация провинции Цзилинь приехала обсудить проект «Большой порт Зарубино»
On July 23 in Moscow, an official meeting took place between the Summa Group management and Bayin Chaolu, governor of the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin. Over 100 people participated in the event. Among them were the heads of several of China’s major business entities: Jilin Grain Company, Northeast Asia Railway Corporation, Jilin Coal Corporation, as well as one of the China’s largest multi-industry holdings, China Merchants Group. From the Russian side, heads of companies in which the Summa Group is a shareholder participated: the FESCO Transportation Group, United Grain Company, Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port, Transengineering and the public officials from the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East, Primorsky Krai administration and the Rosmorport Federal State Unitary Enterprise.
The main topic was the implementation of the Zarubino Port project. The two sides discussed the aspects of constructing the port’s infrastructure, access routes, the timeline for completing the project and other items.
Governor Bayin Chaolu emphasized the special significance of the project for the development of relations between the two countries. He also added that, in order to ensure delivery of cargo to the Zarubino Port, the Chinese side plans to begin the infrastructure development on its territory.
The majority of the companies comprising the delegation are interested in transshipping their cargo through the Zarubino Port. Vice-president of Northeast Asia Railway Corporation Zhang Haitao noted that the traffic capacity of the existing infrastructure allows for 10 million tons of cargo per year to be shipped through Zarubino; however, in the mid-term, Jilin province is prepared to increase this to 30 million tons per year and build up Zarubino with increased capacity.
Summa Group President Alexander Vinokurov stated that the design engineering for the port will be started in the coming months. He underscored the importance of the port for both sides – the project’s implementation will offer new logistical possibilities for Chinese companies by allowing them to deliver cargo to customers faster and more cheaply, and the Russian Far East will be included in the Asian Pacific international transport flow.
Head of the Rosmorport Federal State Unitary Enterprise Andrei Tarasenko announced that the project would be implemented as a public-private partnership, clarifying that the organization he heads is prepared to take on the infrastructure portion (hydraulic works) of the Zarubino Port.
During the meeting, the heads of Summa Group’s core assets gave presentations of their companies to the governor and delegation. Round tables will be held on July 24-25 where the participants will discuss prospects for cooperation and mutually beneficial projects with their Chinese colleagues.
Representatives from the Summa Group and Jilin province signed an agreement to cooperate on the Zarubino Port project on May 20 during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to China. The project involves constructing a deep-water port in the Primorsky Krai with a capacity of up to 100 million tons of cargo per year (containers, grain terminals, roll-on/roll-off terminals, general and other types of cargo), up to 60% of which will be transiting Chinese cargo. The volume of investment is estimated at $3 billion of private and government investments.