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Russia’s FESCO Transport Group has launched container shipping between Cambodia and Russia as part of expanding its maritime services, the company has said. Cambodia is in Southeast Asia and a member of the ASEAN trade bloc. It is also in the process of negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which includes Russia, along with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Fellow ASEAN member Vietnam, a neighboring country, already has a successful FTA with the bloc.
The estimated transit time between Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Vladivostok averages 12 days. The total intermodal delivery time for the first shipment from Cambodia to the final recipient in Moscow was 32 days.
The route involves shipping containers from the river port of Phnom Penh via inland waterways to the Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Port in Vietnam, where FESCO operates a regional hub for transshipment of cargo from Southeast Asia. The containers are consolidated at this point and transshipped onto vessels of the regular FESCO Vietnam Direct Line service, which delivers them to the Commercial Port of Vladivostok (VMTP), a FESCO company.
Upon arriving at VMTP, cargo from Cambodia can be shipped to recipients in the Far East or included in intermodal transportation for delivery to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, and other cities in Russia and the CIS using FESCO container trains.
The bulk of cargo flow from Cambodia consists primarily of light industry goods and agricultural products. The service operates in both directions, allowing for the organization of exports of Russian cargo to Cambodia via the same logistics chain.
Cambodia has a population of around 17 million people and a GDP (PPP) of US$142.39 billion. The World Bank forecast Cambodia’s 2026 GDP growth at 4.3%.
Russia and Cambodia signed a plan of cooperation agreements between the two for the two-year period 2025−2027 earlier this year and are preparing to sign a protocol between the customs services of the two countries. This protocol, initiated by the Russian side, focuses on cooperation in customs administration, information exchange, and mutual assistance and is expected to boost bilateral cooperation under the Eurasian Economic Union’s preferential tariff system.
Bilateral trade between Russia and Cambodia has dropped in recent years, from US$239.4 million in 2021 to an estimated US$65 million in 2025. The reasons for this decline are not immediately political, although sanctions against Russia have impeded trade. Cambodian markets have been somewhat difficult to reach from Russia, with most trade having to pass via China, and Russian businesses concentrating on developing both the Chinese and Vietnamese markets, leaving Cambodia somewhat neglected. However, customs unity and a free trade agreement should help pave the way for increased trade and investment volumes, while the new FESCO service will also significantly help improve bilateral trade.
