OREANDA-NEWS. December 17, 2008. Despite the global financial crisis, throughput of Big Port of St. Petersburg will exceed 60 million tonnes this year, St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko said at the meeting of the city Administration’s Marine Council.

“Any fall down is always followed by an upsurge and our task is to get ready through creation of an adequate maritime infrastructure to compete with foreign ports,” the city Administration’s press center cites the Governor.

“We place a big role on new marine canal,” the Governor said. “Just several weeks ago the chain of facilities of the flood-control complex of St. Petersburg was closed at last and a direct road between the southern and the northern sides of the Gulf of Finland was opened, while vessels go via navigation pass С-1 now.”
It should be noted that in January-October 2008, the port of St. Petersburg handed 51.632.5 million tonnes of cargo (+4%, year-on-year).