Irtysh River To Become Cross-Border Russia-Kazakhstan Logistics Route

The Irtysh River should become an international logistics route for access to Kazakhstan and China, according to Dmitry Ushakov, the Acting Governor of the Omsk region. He said that cargo transport development along the river can connect several Russian regions and provide access to the Northern Sea Route.

Ushakov said that “The Irtysh River should return to the economic agenda as the most important logistics route not only on a regional but also an international scale. The river could fully connect the northern regions of Russia – these are, first of all, the regions near the Ob-Irtysh basin, the inland waterways are the Omsk, Tyumen regions, Khanty-Mansiysk, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area and further to Kazakhstan and China.”

The Irtysh River is approximately 4,248 km long, with a substantial portion of around 3,784 km being navigable, from the downstream end of the Ust-Kamenogorsk hydroelectric power station to its mouth where it flows into the Ob River. That compares with Europe’s largest river, the Danube, at a navigable length of 2,415 km.

Ushakov noted that currently most of the goods are transported by road and rail, which is why the roads are significantly overloaded. “There is a problem of overloading both the highways and the Trans-Siberian Railway. And hence the increase in delivery time, the increase in costs and the burden on infrastructure. The revival of the Irtysh River as a major transport artery and economic unity with our neighbouring countries is an ambitious task. It is strategically important to use the Irtysh River not only in the northern, but also in the southern direction to access the Arctic route and the Northern Sea Route, which integrates the Eurasian transport corridors into the global transport system.”

In September last year, Rosmorrechflot, Russia’s inland waterways management agency, announced that it was planning to build a large river hub in the Omsk Region to develop freight transportation along the Irtysh River. The logistics centre will be established on the basis of the Omsk River Port, which is located near the Trans-Siberian railway, which will allow it to be used to organise multimodal chains of goods delivery.

Kazakhstan and China are also interested in reviving active navigation along the river. In May, representatives of the two countries discussed the creation of a multimodal transit corridor “Russia-Kazakhstan-China“ which included the Irtysh River. According to Kazakh authorities, up to 2.5 million tonnes of cargo per year can be redirected to Irtysh River transport from road and rail.