Belarus plans to build port facilities in Russia’s northwest region to export domestic products, according to Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko.
The planned facilities will be used for transshipment of various cargoes, including mineral fertilizers, timber, roll-on cargo and containers, Golovchenko said.
The port infrastructure should be operational before the end of this year.
READ: First grain ship leaves Ukraine after months of Russian blockade
“Belarusian suppliers should use every free square meter of Russian ports to ship goods,” President Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting on Aug. 11.
“We don’t have time to wait for certain infrastructure in a specific port to be developed. The northwestern region of the Russian Federation is the case at present in the first place.
“The port infrastructure and its availability are currently the weak link in the supply chain.”
Belarus currently cooperates with nine Russian ports on different seas.
In May, AP Moller – Maersk and several other carriers stopped all ship operations in Russia and service with Belarus due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Domestic operations were gradually closed and divested, and new business neither in Russia nor in Belarus has been allowed since.
