Experts Appreciated Burkov’s Idea to Supply Grain Through the Northern Sea Route

Such deliveries can become more efficient than grain transportation by rail. Siberian regions need to enter the market of Southeast Asia.

 The initiative of the Governor of the Omsk Region Alexander Burkov on grain supplies to Southeast Asia through the Northern Sea Route was evaluated by federal experts. At the Eastern Economic Forum, Burkov has already held talks with representatives of the region.

 The proposal is to load Omsk grain on ships and deliver it along the Irtysh and Ob to the port of Sabetta on the Yamal Peninsula, to be loaded onto sea vessels and transported via the Northern Sea Route to Vladivostok. Burkov believes that for Siberia this is a cheaper route than rail transport.

 Valery Koshelev , the Dean of the Economic Department of the Russian State Agrarian University of  Timiryazev’s Moscow Agricultural Academy  agrees with him. The expert notes the high quality of Siberian grain and the potential effectiveness of a new way of its delivery to consumers.

 – Due to the fact that the ruble exchange rate is low, world prices are favorable for our exporters. As for the opportunity to export part of the grain from the Omsk region along the Northern Sea Route, this can be effective, said Koshelev. – It is much cheaper than transporting by rail. At the same time, in addition to grain, you can bring there something else with high added value. Asia-Pacific countries are interested in our products. For example, the same soybeans we grow without genetic modification. And in the world, 95% of soybeans are genetically modified soybeans. And our soy is considered to be of higher quality.

 The vice-president of the Russian Grain Union Alexander Korbut also points to the need to expand grain deliveries from the Omsk region to the east.

 –  Siberian regions need to enter the eastern market, because Siberia is in a grain dead end. Logistic problems do not allow it to enter the markets. As for the Northern Sea Route, one must understand how to deliver in this direction. For this we need appropriate infrastructure, ships. It is necessary to consider the economy. Because good wishes to develop export and the desire to answer the task that we are developing the Northern Sea Route is good, but we need to calculate how economically feasible it is. In general, the direction of exporting the same grain to the Asia-Pacific countries is promising, the expert believes.

 The Philippines are already interested in the supply of Omsk grain, and negotiations with Japan were also announced. Considering that 11 countries with a huge population are included in the Asia-Pacific region, this market looks extremely promising.