Amorous misadventures: business abandons river passenger routes
Residents of the Ulchsky and Nikolaevsky districts of the Khabarovsk Territory this year were left without the usual river service along the Amur — high-speed Meteors did not come to the pier after the opening of the summer navigation season, leaving residents without the only way to get to the mainland. It is reported that none of the river carriers showed up for the state auction. Izvestia investigated why river passenger transport, which has been receiving more and more attention in recent years, is not developing where it is vital, and what prospects this method of transportation has in general.
Which route did Khabarovsk residents lose?
Ulchsky and Nikolaevsky districts of the Khabarovsk Territory are located on the Amur River, and for residents of many remote villages river transport is almost the only way to get to a big city, local media reported.
In the summer, residents of these villages used the Meteor, a hydrofoil, but navigation did not open in 2025. According to the government of the region, no one showed up for the state auction for the maintenance of this flight. The Ministry of Transport of the Khabarovsk Territory has already announced the third auction for carriers, the deadline for accepting applications is June 11.
It is known that the Komsomolsk– Bogorodskoye–Nikolaevsk–Komsomolsk route was operating last year. The flights were operated by KomPass LLC and two high-speed vessels Kapitan Knyazev and Sergey Torbin. In 2024, 71 flights were made on this route, 4,519 people were transported — 7.7% more than a year earlier. Navigation then began on June 1.
The route included stops in Kiselevka, Sofiysky, Mariinsky, Bogorodsky, Susanino, Tyr, Takhta (all— Ulchsky district of the Khabarovsk Territory), Innokentievka and Nikolaevsk-on-Amur (Nikolaevsky district). Tickets, judging by the open information on the Web, range from 664 to 5530 rubles, depending on the distance traveled. For example, it is about 600 km from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.
In 2025, the regional government allocated more than 255 million rubles for river transportation in the Khabarovsk Territory. They were supposed to compensate carriers on 14 routes. Navigation started on May 1, then it was proposed to resume the route to Ulchsky and Nikolaevsky districts from June 9.
In addition to KomPass LLC, Amur Passenger Transportation CJSC and one individual entrepreneur operate on river transportation in the region. It is not specified why they did not participate in the competition for the route popular with Khabarovsk residents this year.
The administrations of the Ulchsky and Nikolaevsky districts, as well as the government of the Khabarovsk Territory, had not responded to Izvestia's requests at the time of publication.
What is the situation in Russia as a whole
Meanwhile, in general, river passenger navigation in Russia is growing.
Rosmorrechflot told Izvestia that in 2024, more than 12.1 million people were transported by inland waterway along more than 400 routes. In 2023, there were fewer passengers — about 11 million, but even then the increase compared to 2022 was 16%.
In these statistics, it is difficult to separate tourists and local passengers, says Associate Professor of the Department of Water Transport Operations at the Academy of Water Transport of the Russian University of Transport (MIIT) Ekaterina Zaretskaya.
— Water transport is not only a means of transportation, like electric trains and buses: a significant part of passengers always rest in this way. The only exception, perhaps, is in cases such as in the Khabarovsk Territory, when river transport becomes uncontested," she clarified.
Currently, a separate federal project "Development of the backbone network of inland waterways" is devoted to improving river routes, it is included in the new national project "Efficient Transport System," Rosmorrechflot clarified.
One of the important aspects of the federal project is the renovation and construction of new passenger ships. The agency cites the example of electric vessels that have no analogues in the whole world, which began to run year-round in Moscow. Vodohod's new electric vessels have also been launched in Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnoyarsk, Perm and Yaroslavl, with berthing infrastructure built for them.
"High—speed hydrofoil passenger vessels of the Meteor-120P type are currently being built under the leasing program, and four Meteor-2020 type vessels will be delivered in the summer of 2025 and the summer of 2026," the ministry noted.
One of the manufacturers of high-speed passenger ships, R. E. Alekseev Central Design Bureau, is currently building 10 Meteor 120P and four Valdai 45P SEC units, the company's press service said. Eight of these vessels are being built by order of the State Transport Leasing Company (GTLC), and the rest are directly for the regions: three Meteors for Yakutia, Nizhny Novgorod and the Rostov region, and three Valdai for the Saratov region.
Both the company and Rosmorrechflot emphasize that there is a shortage of high-speed vessels on regular and tourist routes in the country. According to the agency, about 50 more Meteors and Valdai are required.
The Nizhny Novgorod Region, Tatarstan and Chuvashia have the most developed water passenger transport system, with which another federal project, River Highways, was launched in 2024. According to Rosmorrechflot, it is aimed at reviving high-speed inter-regional passenger transportation along inland waterways. Under this project, shipping companies received a federal subsidy for transportation along the Volga on high-speed vessels. There are 12 subsidized routes in the three Volga regions, and three carriers received 45.6 million in state support. In 2025, it is planned to expand the geography of water transportation to the Yaroslavl region.
Beglyar Novruzov, director of the Center for Economics of Infrastructure Industries in the CSR, says that there are about 1.5–1.6 thousand passenger river vessels in the country (excluding small ones), but their wear is estimated at 40%.
According to Dmitry Zemlyansky, director of the Center for Spatial Analysis and Regional Diagnostics at the IPEI Presidential Academy, about 45.3% of passenger and cargo ships have been in operation for more than 30 years. Another problem is the reduction in the number of both passenger and cargo berths by 12 and 25%, respectively.
Why river transport is poorly developed
Dmitry Zemlyansky notes that now the role of river passenger transport "no longer corresponds to the scale of the Soviet period," primarily due to the greatly increased level of motorization and the length of high—quality roads. River transport accounts for less than 0.1% of the total passenger traffic, and passenger traffic has decreased 2.7 times over the past 20 years.: Back in 2001, about 30 million people were transported along river routes, he says.
According to the expert, river passenger and cargo transportation can now become an important element of a strategy to overcome transport restrictions in the country. With their help, it will be possible to partially unload sections of the railway and automobile infrastructure. The main potential is in the Volga basin.
— However, in some regions, river passenger transportation remains critically important, especially in summer. This applies primarily to remote territories of Siberia and the Far East located in the basins of the Yenisei, Lena and other large rivers," the source told Izvestia.
According to reports from the Khabarovsk Territory, it is in the Far East, where river transportation is vital, that problems arise with them. The fact is that river passenger transportation itself is unprofitable.
"Nowhere in the world does river or sea transport ever develop without government support," emphasizes Ekaterina Zaretskaya. — Actually, there is no public transport in any city in the world that would work 100% on a commercial basis.
Beslan Novruzov points out that, in general, the costs of companies for the provision of passenger transportation services by river transport in the investment stage are more expensive than those of road carriers. Excluding the construction of ships, but taking into account the purchase of used ones, the price is 40% higher, and in the operational stage — up to 25%, even if subsidized by regional and federal authorities.
The cost of "Valdai" is about 200 million rubles, "Meteors" — more than 450 million rubles.
— The payback period for a Valdai—type vessel with a river navigation duration of four months, even if you work 10 hours a day and carry a full cabin of 45 people, will be at least four years - and this is without taking into account the cost of ship maintenance and crew salaries. A ticket for such a trip will cost at least 500 rubles. The profitability of such vessels at such a construction cost is unattainable," the expert emphasized.
However, Ekaterina Zaretskaya notes that there are successful projects in Russia that at least try to minimize subsidies. She mentions, in particular, the Vodolet company from Nizhny Novgorod, which develops both tourist and regular passenger routes. According to the expert, the profitability of passenger river transportation largely depends not only on the participation of the state, but also on the management of companies.
What measures should the state take?
Beslan Novruzov emphasizes that river transportation is subsidized by states almost everywhere. In Germany, for example, this is due to special tariffs for other modes of transport and tax benefits. In France, special grants are issued for river carriers.
In Russia, the government is also actively investing in the development of the river passenger transport network, but problems remain. In particular, the expert points out that river transport in our country has an extremely low duration of navigation. He believes that it would be advisable for the state to "move away from the practice of building projects only for existing vessels that have been mastered by shipyards."
— The development of design bureaus and shipyards is required in order to constantly develop and update the river passenger fleet — then government subsidies will be targeted and aimed at covering current passenger transportation needs, — said Beslan Novruzov.
According to him, it is possible to solve the problems of river passenger transport by reducing the cost of ship construction by stimulating manufacturers and encouraging shipping companies.
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