However, this itself clouds the issues. As Simon Whitehead of international business consultancy College Hill puts it: “There is no doubt that it is a strategic asset for Russia.” This is not just because the federation’s fleet, presently positioned at Sebastopol, may be looking for a new home, “it is also because in a centrally controlled country like Russia, the infrastructure is very important. In short it is a highly integrated system, and part of a big bureaucracy,” he says.
Further, a $13.3bn investment in capacity is aimed at port facilities across the federation by 2012. Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Kola Bay, Caucasus and Ust-Luga are targetted, among others: alongside this, Rosmorport is looking at developing liquefied natural gas facilities to support the oil and gas sector.
But although just short of one quarter is due to come out of the public purse, the rest will come from private investors. President Putin himself recently talked about “reducing state involvement in the economy” – at the moment the state holds around 60% of the purse strings.
All this is despite Russia’s difficulty a decade ago, which handed over substantial amounts of raw materials to a handful of oligarchs.
However, one of the projects includes dredging work at eastern ports to provide additional space for ice-breaking vessels, but this may spark other conflicts. With global warming opening up the Arctic’s north-east route more regularly, there are looming disputes about who controls seabed and who controls the sea, says Mr Whitehead. It is at the moment an ongoing war of words – which with luck will stay at that level without adding any more heat to the Arctic passage.
