Over the years, domestic companies have replenished with the new fleet and have made some development

On 27^th of November was held a meeting of the Subcommittee on Water Transport of the Committee for Logistics and Transportation of the Presidium of NCE RK "Atameken" on the Atamekhen platform. The event was chaired by the Chairman of the Subcommittee, Executive Director of the Association of Marine Transport Entrepreneurs of RK Nikolay Yudin, with participation of Rustana Dzhenalinova, Director of the Department of Logistics and Transportation of the NCE RK "Atameken", General Director of the Union of Transport Workers of Kazakhstan "Kazlogistics" Kanat Almagambetov, representatives of state agencies, industry organizations and the business community.

During the meeting, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Water Transport Nikolai Yudin voiced a number of problematic issues hampering the development of the maritime industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, namely: the right to sail foreign ships under the national flag of the RK, the development of a sectoral framework for qualification and professional standards in the field of water transport, other cargo through the seaport of Aktau / Kuryk, provision of priority loading of Kazakhstani merchant vessels, as well as the necessary measures to respond to oil spills in the Caspian Sea.

"Over the years, domestic companies have replenished with the new fleet and have made a certain development. However, at present the national fleet with great difficulty gets the opportunity to provide services in the domestic market of the country due to cabotage traffic, and its main part is idle and incurs large losses, as the conditions set out in Article 11 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Merchant Shipping" are a barrier", - said Nikolay Yudin.

The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated by 28^th of December  2010 "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Transport Issues" supplemented Article 11 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Merchant Shipping" with Clause 5.

Article 11. Nationality of the ship. Right to sail under the National Flag of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

5. The right to sail under the National Flag of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the basis of the decision of the authorized body in accordance with the procedure provided for in the Rules of State Registration of Ships and Rights to Such Sails may be temporarily transferred to a vessel registered in the register of vessels of a foreign state for use under a bareboat charter:

     1) to the Kazakhstan charterer;

     2) a foreign legal entity operating in the Caspian Sea through branches registered in accordance with the established procedure in the Republic of Kazakhstan, in accordance with the production sharing agreement (contractors, operator, agents, subcontractors). 

Raisa Adamova, President of the Association of Shipowners and Businessmen of Marine Industry, noted that the issue is very serious and the adoption of a rash decision could lead to a number of negative consequences for the industry as a whole.

"The Association is categorically against the introduction of changes to Article 11 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Merchant Shipping ". It should be noted that in April 2017, the Association of Shipowners explained that it is necessary to exclude not the article itself, but these additions that were introduced by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2010. To develop fair competition in the Caspian Sea, there is no threat. We must clearly understand where Kazakhstan's obligations to international shipownership and where domestic operations. Infrastructure is also a very serious issue. More than 300 units of vessels are involved in the Caspian", - Raisa Adamova said.

Representative of the company "Caspian Offshore Contract" Alexander Burakov added, "According to the PSA everyone knows that foreign vessels are all under the Kazakh flag. If we explain that these ships only go with us, then there will be no problems in the future. If there are no problems in understanding, one must seek a compromise. Do not touch the legislation, let's look for a solution in changing subordinate regulations".

The Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) is a commercial contract between the investor and the state. In accordance with the PSA, the state grants the investor the exclusive right to develop subsoil, and the investor undertakes to carry out such development on its own and at its own risk.

Deputy Director General of LLP "NMSK" Kazmortransflot "Altynay Ualiyeva emphasized that the Agreement on navigation within the framework of the EAGE is planned to be signed this year.

"In 2019-2020 there will be an opportunity to make changes. The issue can not be closed, the effect of making changes is that literally 2-3 years those vessels that work at the point will not be in demand. Kazakhstan will receive self-destructing ships, other operators will bring new ships. We need to conduct a good analysis", -noted Altynay Ualiyeva.

Representatives of the NCOC and PSA companies expressed their position that there is no need to amend Article 11 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Merchant Shipping". The activities of these companies do not go beyond the water area of the Kashagan project and the vessels used perform special work related only to the Kashagan project.

Rustan Dzhenalinov, Managing Director and Director of the Department of Logistics and Transportation of NCE RK "Atameken", suggested that the authorized body conduct an analysis of the regulatory impact in order to take into account the interests of all industry participants.

In addition, the participants of the Subcommittee noted the need to create an appropriate mechanism for preserving and maintaining the Southern route for the transportation of oil and other cargo through the Aktau / Kuryk port through the formation of a competitive tariff, the easing of ports in ships under the Kazakh flag, the development of IPA for priority loading of Kazakhstani ships, tariffs, etc.)

Also during the discussion, the question of necessary measures for the response to oil spills in the Caspian Sea was considered, the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea has a huge potential for oil and gas resources, which implies a significant demand for oil spill response services.

 In order to prevent possible emergencies at sea associated with a possible leak or subsequent oil spill on the sea surface, the members of the Subcommittee decided to consider the issue of establishing an authorized organization for the elimination of oil spills.

As a result of the meeting, the members of the Subcommittee on Water Transport expressed the position that the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and state bodies should provide the necessary support for the development of the domestic fleet and the industry as a whole.