Work begins on construction of Vostochny port in Kaliningrad Region

Preliminary work has begun on the construction of the deep-sea port Vostochny in the Kaliningrad Region. As a Rosbalt correspondent was informed by the press office of Kaliningrad Railways, the transport workers were the first people involved in the construction process.

Vostochny will be located on a peninsula near the town Baltiisk and will act as a terminal for incoming passenger ferries as well as railroad ferries and container carriers operating on the line between Ust-Luga, Baltiisk and the ports of Germany. This large-scale project is part of the federal programme for the development of the Kaliningrad Region up to 2010. The new port became a necessity as the larger ships are unable to enter the shallow 42-km-long sea channel which links the other ports to the Baltic Sea.

The railroad section of the port will cost USD 87 million alone according to Yuri Rode, director of LenmorNII proekt, the company responsible for constructing the port. This figure includes the development of the Kaliningrad-Baltiisk-Vostochny railway line for the 2003-2005 period and the construction of the Baltiisk-2 port station.

Deputy Russian Railways Minister Mikhail Akulov attended a meeting in Baltiisk yesterday devoted to the beginning of construction. It was decided that the approach railway lines and roads to the port should be laid immediately.