Shifts in the Geography of the Russian Port Economy: Growth without Restructuring

— Until recently, Russia, both in terms of geography and shipping volumes, could be attributed to the number of countries in the world semiperiphery. In recent decades, attempts have been made to overcome the technological and logistical gap in these areas; in particular, significant investments have been directed to development of seaports. This led not only to a rapid increase in cargo transshipment, but also to structural shifts in their nomeclature. However, this progressive trend largely correlated with the extensive logic of Russian economic growth. The construction and expansion of terminals for the export of raw materials and semifinished products also overlapped the positive dynamics of growth in the volumes of the most technologically advanced container transportation. Based on the data of Morrechflot and Rosstat, involving data from analytical reviews of consulting companies, the dynamics of volumes and structure of cargo transshipment in Russian ports in the first two decades of the 21st century is shown in the context of basins and individual port complexes; problems in the development of the sector have been revealed. The absolute growth of volumes was typical of all sea basins, and the increase in structural diversity of processed cargo was primarily typical of the port complexes facing Europe. In the new geoeconomic conditions that developed by the end of the second decade of the 21st century, the territorial structure of Russia’s port economy may be frozen for a long period, fixing the results of the investment boom in the country’s port economy in the period of overall progressive development of foreign economic relations. Further shifts will most likely lead to an increase in the raw material component, and shifts in cargo transshipment volumes will be limited by the port infrastructure created at the previous stage, some of which may even prove redundant.