As soon as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev concluded his visit to China, there was disappointing news from the Russian side. According to the Russian newspaper "Izvestia", citing ** documents, the modernization and construction of 10 ports on the Russian-Chinese border will be postponed for about a year. These include the construction of 3 international road crossings, the renovation of 5 international road crossings and the construction of 2 railway bridges. The works were originally scheduled to be completed between 2024 and 2026, but have now been postponed to 2027.
This news has aroused the doubts of the outside world, why does Russia delay the construction of the port when it is hot with China?Doesn't Russia want to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with China?In fact, there is no doubt that Russia attaches great importance to China and Russia, especially after the West imposed severe sanctions on Russia, Russia regards China as an important partner in resisting sanctions. The West has not only restricted Russia's energy exports, but also intervened in Russian oil ** by stipulating that it must not exceed $60 per barrel, otherwise it will punish insurance companies that provide services for Russian oil shipping. This is a huge blow to Russia, whose main income is energy exports. In this case, the Russian side hopes to ease economic pressure and increase income through cooperation with China. Therefore, the Russian side is actively promoting the construction of natural gas pipelines to China, and also plans to increase the number of border crossings and customs clearance capacity in order to transport more Chinese and Russian goods.
However, the construction of the port on the Russian side has encountered various difficulties, which have led to delays in the construction period. One of the main difficulties is the impact of the pandemic. The epidemic has reduced the efficiency of the Russian side and affected the flow of goods between China and Russia. In order to prevent and control the epidemic, the ports of China and Russia are often closed, and the customs clearance of goods is restricted, which also has an adverse impact on the construction of ports on the Russian side. Russian Prime Minister Mishustin has said that the main transportation artery is crucial to economic and trade development, but the epidemic has brought some negative effects, and the two countries should work together to restore the flow of goods and build a new logistics chain. According to Russian sources, the Russian side is ready to run 48 trains a day through China's land border crossings, but it is still restricted by China's epidemic prevention measures.
In addition to the epidemic, the Russian side is also facing some domestic problems, which have also hindered the construction of Russian ports. Russia is a vast country, but the level of development in its eastern and western regions varies greatly. The region close to Europe, the first route is relatively developed, but the Far East is very backward, the infrastructure is not perfect, there is only one railway line, the transportation capacity is insufficient, it is difficult to transport the materials needed for the construction of ports to the local area. Moreover, the Russian side has to solve some technical problems, such as the difference in track gauge. The Chinese side once proposed to build a high-speed railway between Vladivostok and Suifenhe, but the Russian side did not respond positively.
The construction of the Russian port is also constrained by capital and manpower. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has been going on for 10 months, and there is still no sign of a ceasefire between the two sides. This military operation has consumed a lot of resources on the Russian side, and Russia has to use the power of the whole country to pay for huge military spending, while also issuing pensions to military families, supporting domestic enterprises, and responding to Western sanctions. The financial situation of the Russian side may not be optimistic, and it may be difficult to invest a lot of money in the construction of ports in the Far East. In addition, the climate in the Russian Far East is not conducive to the construction of ports, especially in the cold winter season, the frozen soil is not suitable for construction, and the working conditions of workers are also very poor, which may also lead to delays.
To sum up, the delay in the construction of the Russian port is mainly due to some problems of the Russian side itself, not because the Russian side does not attach importance to cooperation with China. If China ventures at this time, it may face some risks. If Russia wants to further expand its economy with China, it must solve these domestic problems as soon as possible, otherwise it will only miss the opportunity.