The meeting of Russian-Finnish Mixed Commission on Maritime Shipping
On September 10, 2021, Russian-Finnish Mixed Commission on Maritime Shipping ran a 40th, anniversary meeting. Members of the commission discussed development of passenger traffic along the Saimaa Canal and the Gulf of Finland, based on the use of small-sized passenger and cargo/passenger ships.
In terms of this discussion, Olga Ansberg shared information on VIP&Ko project, which is run in cooperation with the Finnish Strategic Development Agency «Cursor». The project is aimed at connection of Vyborg, St. Petersburg and Kotka by sea routes and improvement of safety and border crossing customer experience of future passenger lines. To achieve these goals, Port Logistics Ltd modernize passenger handling zones and plans to separate passenger flows (international lines / cabotage) inside the terminal. As a result, Seaport of Vyborg will have a terminal, consisting of four functional zones: customs control, border control, passenger screening, commercial area. The last one is supposed to accommodate administrative, commercial and auxiliary premises (waiting room, working premises of FSB and Police, service facilities, duty-free shop, café).
Therefore, the port will link Vyborg with St. Petersburg and Finland, opening new possibilities for tourists to travel between seaports of Kotka, Lappeenranta, Vyborg and «Marine Facade» in St. Petersburg. This will increase the number of tourists and positively influence on economic development of the North-West region.