By Yekaterina Dranitsyna

Staff Writer

Sterkh Corporation has opened the largest logistics complex in the Northwest. Occupying 60 hectares territory at the junction of thef Vyborgskoye Schosse, Gorskoye Schosse and the ring-road, Logopark complex will handle up to 8,000 units of transport vehicles a month, the managing company said Tuesday in a statement.

The multifunctional complex will offer the whole range of services for cargo storage and customs registration — St. Petersburg Customs Department and Central Excise Customs Department are based on its territory as are warehouses for temporary storage and cargo handling, office and parking areas.

“The development of the logistics business in Russia demands that a wider range of services is offered to clients. And all the services should be offered in one place. Obviously, large logistics complexes will beat the competition, and Logopark is the first complex of that kind in the Northwest,” said Vladimir Pyatakov, general director of Sterkh Corporation.

“Such complexes will provide transparency in terms of the customs registration process, it will simplify control over flows of cargo for state bodies, free the city roads from large trucks, improve the environment and reduce crime in the customs business,” Pyatakov said.

The new complex is expected to act as a substitute for the inefficient customs departments located throughout the city meaning trucks would not have to travel through residential districts.

Igor Vlasenko, head of the Northwest Customs Department, confirmed that the Federal Customs Service plans to close customs departments inside the city and introduce several large logistics complexes on the outskirts, which is stipulated in the regional development program.

“The city is literally suffocating from the high number of large lorries. And St. Petersburg is developing and continues to attract investors which means the more and more cargo to be transported. Customs departments should operate more efficiently. And the new logistics complex should help,” said Leonid Bogdanov, chairman of the City Hall Committee for Legislation, Law Enforcement and Security.

Logopark is equipped with a modern security system. Sterkh expects that monthly customs payments will account for 3.5 billion rubles ($134.6 million). The complex is conveniently located for cargo transported between Finland and Northern Europe and Russia.

Sterkh Corporation has currently invested about $30 million into the complex. By 2010 the company plans to have invested $200 million to $400 million into the development.

The complex is owned by Osinovaya Roscha Ltd. and has been leased for 10 years (till 2012) to the Korcord company, a subsidiary of Sterkh Corporation. Sterkh Corporation unifies a number of logistics and brokerage companies offering customs services in the Northwest region. Last year its subsidiaries processed cargo of $461.5 million.

Local real estate experts repeatedly decry the deficit of logistics areas in St. Petersburg.

“We estimate the total volume of high quality logistics areas in St. Petersburg to total about 350,000 square meters. That’s really not enough considering the growing interest logistics operators are showing in the city and the increasing volumes of cargo,” said Kirill Malyshev, head of logistics at Colliers International.

In a further development this week, AKM Logistics, a subsidiary of Venture Investments & Yield Management LLP, announced the construction of an A-class logistics complex in St. Petersburg on Moskovskoye Schosse. The 32.8-hectare complex will offer 165,000 square meters of warehousing. Total investment is expected at $150 million. The first part of the complex is expected to open by August 2008.

News source: times.spb.ru
Print this news