A site will open in Novorossiysk to receive large ferries from Turkey, capable of carrying about 100 trucks at a time. Against the backdrop of Western sanctions, shipments from that country have increased sharply and new locations are needed to handle cargo

The largest container terminal in the south of Russia – Novorossiysk hub transport and forwarding enterprise (NUTEP), owned by Sergei Shishkarev’s Delo group – will be prepared for “stable movement of goods” with about 100 trucks (truck-tractor plus trailer) at a single vessel call from Turkey. The ferries with cargo trucks arriving at the NUTEP berth will be serviced on a specially equipped platform outside the terminal.

This is stated in an explanatory note of the Ministry of Finance of September 13 to the draft decree of the government on the sites in Novorossiysk for the delivery of goods to Russia. Implementation of the decree will help to increase the throughput capacity of Novorossiysk port, said RBC in the press service of the Federal Customs Service (FCS; subordinate to the Ministry of Finance). Of all the terminals which operate in Novorossiysk Bay, the most adapted to receive truck cargo ferries was berth number 39a, located at container terminal NUTEP, explained RBC representative “Dela”. Now NUTEP serves Turkish ferries with refrigerator trailers without tractors.

The decision to prepare the Novorossiysk transport hub to receive large truck ferries was made because of the sharp increase in Turkish exports to Russia in 2022 against the background of Western sanctions. It totaled $731 million in July 2022, 75% more than in July last year. “Turkey has become for Russia the main country in the Azov-Black Sea basin, which maintains normal trade and logistics relations. It is also a transit hub for the movement of goods through new transport and logistics chains that have been built to replace those that were broken due to sanctions,” a source in a major Russian transport company told RBC.

“The road map for the organization of a regular ferry service to Turkey through Novorossiysk was discussed at a meeting with First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov on September 8. It’s still in the work, said Belousov’s representative.

NUTEP terminal, located in the southeastern part of the port of Novorossiysk, has a great potential to increase the volume of transshipment of goods transported by trucks on ferries between Turkey and Russia, the explanatory note said. Additional throughput capacity on this route will certainly be in demand by Russian shippers and consignees, confirms a representative of the Russian Export Center.