Belarusian officials again started talking about developing their own port infrastructure and creating their own merchant fleet. This time, the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Belarus, Maxim Ermolovich, shared these plans.
Speaking on the Belarus 1 state television channel, Ermolovich noted that in the conditions of Western sanctions and restrictions, the country began to actively develop trade with the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, therefore, it needs profitable schemes for transporting goods by sea.
“We must think about our own fleet, our own port infrastructure, and build a transport system to the ports,” quoted Ermolovich Sputnik agency.
According to the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, Belarus, together with its Russian colleagues, is now working out the most profitable railway routes – both to seaports and to the end consumer. But regarding infrastructure, he said, Belarus needs to “go all over the world, look for opportunities where it will be present in ports with its goods.”
“The merchant fleet is one of the tasks that the country will sooner or later solve in order not to depend on carriers who dictate their terms,” Ermolovich explained.
Let us note that the issue of creating our own merchant fleet has been raised by Belarusian officials at various levels for more than a decade. Back in 2009, Nikolai Verkhovets, who then held the post of First Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications of Belarus, said that about 20 million tons of Belarusian cargo annually need to be transported by sea. He drew attention to the fact that for these purposes it would be more profitable to use our own navy.
Two years ago, Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said that the Belarusian government was considering the possibility of creating its own sea cargo port and cargo fleet. According to the prime minister, Western sanctions pushed Belarus to develop a new, more profitable scheme for transporting petroleum products. The Prime Minister said that a solution would be found for the rest of the products shipped through seaports, including potash fertilizers.
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