Russia is considering the establishment of a new logistics centre in Krasnodar, Russia to facilitate the growth in bilateral trade between it and Turkey as talks continue between the two countries.
Krasnodar is located 80km from the Black Sea and close to ports there including Novorossiysk, Tuapse and Kavkaz. The centre is planned to provide transport, storage, customs and collection services to a range of industries, including automotive, and is being welcomed by Turkish OEMs eager to increase trade with Russia and surrounding countries. Among those is Ford Otosan, the joint venture between Ford and Turkey’s Koç Holding.
“The Black Sea is a very important and efficient connection between Turkey and Russia,” said Cengiz Kabatepe, assistant general manager, MP&L, Ford Otosan. “Most of the automotive production centres are located close to the Black sea region in Turkey so it is an advantage for them to reach the Black Sea coast from either [the ports of] Samsun or Derince to reach Russian ports,” he told Automotive Logistics News.
As well as the downturn in the global economy since late 2008, trade between Turkey and Russia has been hampered by a lack of adequate port, terminal and transport facilities in Russia, leading to frequent service cancellations. Added to this, feasibility studies designed to improve movements between the two countries initiated earlier that year were hampered by the South Ossetia war, which began in August 2008.
“I hope that, after the new agreements and discussion, new actions and precautions will be taken to eliminate these problems, which will enable Turkish and Russian trade volume to increase,” said Kabatepe. “Ford Otosan is aiming at a reasonable amount of vehicle export activities with Russia, and during the two years before global crisis it exported an annual volume of 1,400 trucks to Russia. We are really looking forward to have a better logistics infrastructure in one of these or alternative ports to enter Russia,” he said.
According to the logistics centre project, the two countries will work together on a multimodal system that will use rail, ferries and road transport. Cargo loaded at Russian ports will be received at the Turkish Black Sea ports of Samsun and Mersin through one route as opposed to being moved via other countries, bringing cost savings.
