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Summa Group, under Ziyavudin Magomedov, is negotiating an agreement with China on the prospective project Big Port Zarubino in the Primorye region, a project that could reach 40 billion rubles in investments. As reported to Kommersant, Summa Group should be signing an agreement today with the Jilin Province on the turnover of goods through Zarubino from the north to the south of China. Kommersant’s source confirms that the provincial authorities also want to create their own dry port to store goods for Zarubino.
Within the context of Vladimir Putin’s visit to China, Summa Group will sign an agreement with the Jilin Province on collaboration on the Big Port Zarubino project, reported a source for Kommersant, familiar with the visit’s itinerary. According to him, the agreement will be signed by Summa Group president Alexander Vinokurov and governor of the province Bain Chao-Lu. Summa Group confirmed this information, but refused to comment further. Mr. Vinokurov just recalled other plans for projects in the Far East, such as construction of an East Coal Terminal port for 20 million tons per year.
The Big Port Zarubino, with 60 million tons of goods turned over per year, is planned to be built in the Primorsky Region’s Trinity Bay, 18 km from the Chinese border. A key objective is to have a grain terminal with 10 million tons per year capacity, which the United Grain Company (UGC, 50% minus one share owned by Summa Group, controlling interest under the government) plans to build. In March, UGC and FESCO (part of Summa Group) signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Japanese Marubeni Corporation, under which the volume of grain exports from the Far East port could reach 5 million tons per year (it is currently estimated at a few dozen thousand tons). Plans for Zarubino include a container terminal (processing up to 1.29 million TEUs per year), capacity for general and bulk cargos (up to 35 million tons per year), bunkering, and roll-on/roll-off cargo (automobile and vehicles, up to 500,000 units per year). The overall cost of the project is estimated at 40 billion rubles, 33 billion of which are financed by Summa Group, UGC, and other investors. Another 7 billion rubles will be allocated from the Federal Target Program for Development of the Far East and Baikal Krai budget until 2025. The first phase of the port is set to launch in 2018.
The Jilin authorities, bordering Russia near Vladivostok, plan to create a cargo base for the port, redirecting cargo traffic from the country’s northeast provinces to the southern provinces through Zarubino, noted Kommersant’s source. According to him, Chinese goods in transit will account for up to 60% of goods trafficked through the port. He didn’t elaborate on specifically which companies plan to transfer cargo through Zarubino, but according to him, China’s interest in the port stems from the limited capacity of the Chinese railway system. Another Kommersant’s source remarked that in April, Summa Group had a series of meetings with leaders from the northeast provinces of China, including Heilongjiang and Jilin.
Kommersant’s source, familiar with the situation, said that the Jilin government proposed the possibility of building a dry port in the city of Hunchun as a supplement to Zarubino. Talks are focused on a terminal that would hold goods headed to the port, explained Kommersant’s source, but an agreement has not been reached yet. Summa Group already owns the Vladivostok Commercial Seaport in the Far East. However, its average annual turnover of goods is about 6.5 million tons per year, and the ability to further develop is limited, said a source close to Summa Group. He noted that not long ago, Summa Group purchased 100 hectares of land for the Zarubino port, and plans to develop project specifications in the near future.
Mikhail Burmisterov, head of the Infoline-Analytics agency, noted that within the context of international sanctions on Russia and a reorientation towards cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries, the Big Port Zarubino project is very promising. In addition, said the expert, the need for container and grain capacity in the Far East will continue to increase, and Summa Group should have no problem attracting private investment.