The Minister of Transport and Roads of the Republic of Tatarstan, Farit Khanifov, said that the government company «Fleet of the Republic of Tatarstan» has thoroughly taken up the passenger fleet.
This means that more than 85% of the passenger and passenger-cargo fleet in the republic will now be concentrated at the «Fleet of the Republic of Tatarstan».
According to Khanifov, the berths and floating piers can be repaired while preserving their appearance. But most of the ships will be scrapped under the recycling fee program.
They are already good for nothing, we will not hand them over for scrap metal. And with these funds, we will purchase approximately 10 ships.
Only thirteen of the most repairable ships will remain. These are the Soviet motor ships «Moskva» and the Soviet motor ships «Ozyorny Moskvich», also known as «Omiki» in common parlance. Seven of them will be repaired this season.
In general, according to Khanifov, it is expected that half a million passengers will be transported by water transport in Tatarstan by 2025.
JSC «Fleet of the Republic of Tatarstan» appeared in May 2023 thanks to the government of Tatarstan for the development of river passenger transportation in the region. It now owns four new vessels: two passenger hydrofoil ships «Meteor-2020» and two A217-1 ice-class motor ships.
In addition to the «Fleet of the Republic of Tatarstan», the Nizhny Novgorod company «Vodolet» is engaged in transportation along the Volga to and from Kazan. At the end of October, these carriers launched the first new high-speed hydrofoil vessel «Meteor 120R» for this line from Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan. It develops a speed of up to 75 km/h and is capable of transporting 120 people over a distance of up to 700 km. In terms of transportation comfort, it is not inferior to the «Meteor-2020».