South Urals to become largest transportation center

An agreement on financing the construction of transport and logistics complex "South-Ural" was signed at the Transport Ministry. The agreement was concluded between the State Transport Leasing Company and Resource Company. The project is relevant to the whole country, and the development of logistics has become one of the key points of economic growth of the South Urals. The "South-Ural" logistics complex will be the largest one in Russia.

The Chelyabinsk region is located in the heart of Eurasia, at the intersection of transport routes of Russia and the CIS. The need to take advantage of the favorable geographical position was mentioned in the recently adopted amendments to the Chelyabinsk Region Development Strategy before 2020.

"Since time immemorial, South Urals has been sitting at the crossroads of major transport arteries. The Great Silk Road used to pass through the region. Our region was the first in Ural, across which the Transsiberian Railway was built. It is worthy of note that Chelyabinsk was the headquarters for the construction management of the railway. There are tens, if not hundreds, of such places in the South Urals," said Acting Governor of the Chelyabinsk region, Boris Dubrovsky.

The Transport Logistics Complex "South-Ural" is of strategic importance for the Chelyabinsk region and Russia on the whole. The complex will serve the turnover of transport corridor between China and the Russian Federation. The implementation of the project will significantly cut the time that the goods spend in transit and reduce the burden on the railway crossing from China to Zabaikalsk. More than two thousand people will receive high-paid jobs.

"In my opinion, Chelyabinsk residents have very good perspectives. We need a large transport hub in South Urals, including for receiving and redistributing goods from China, especially against the background of developing trade with the country. The selected scheme is correct. The location is very convenient from all points of view, there are no cons to it, CEO of National Customs Broker, Ilya Kozlov, told Pravda.Ru. - I am sure that transport and logistics in the Chelyabinsk region has brilliant future. Russia should indeed participate in internationally commodity circulation. We at our company would love to work there. I am sure that we will eventually connect to the realization of this project."

The combination of the powerful industrial potential of the Chelyabinsk region with a favorable geographical location at the crossroads of trade routes already attracts investors working in transport and logistics business. A month ago, the first phase of the logistics center was opened in Kopejsk. It fully meets the modern requirements of logistics, infrastructure and business organization.

"Undoubtedly, the construction of any infrastructure is aimed at providing transit through our country, and generally improves the economic component. So it is very good that this complex is being built and will work, - said Alexander Vassiliev, a member of the State Duma Committee on Transport. - Russia is a very big country, and the creation of appropriate infrastructure, roads, roadside service, railways, ensuring uninterrupted movement of transit trains in the country - all this makes the climate more attractive, and carriers will use Russia as a major resource to move their goods from China to Europe."