vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #163 / Business / Reading article...

FESCO launches largest-ever container ship

FESCO launched its largest-ever container ship late February, The Kapitan Afanasiev. Built in Poland, the ship can take 1,900, 20-foot containers and travel at a maximum speed of 19 knots. On her way to Primorye, the ship will pick up cargo in Puerto Rico to deliver it to China and then operate on the Pusan-Inchon-Vostochny-Vladivostok line.

Windmills will power economic zone

The Nakhodka Free Economic Zone will soon begin construction of a wind power station, with 30 windmills to be installed on Povorotny Cape. The Deputy Director of FEZ-Energia Alexander Zatsarenny said a German company will supply the 40-meter high and 30-meter-span windmills and will finance part of the project. Investors on the Russian side are Dalenergo and the FEZ administrative committee. The initial cost of the project is $16 million. Electricity generated by the station will be enough to supply 30 100-unit apartment buildings.

Trade rises 22 percent

Foreign trade in Primorye rose 22 percent last year from $819 million in 1996 to just over $1 billion, according to the krai foreign economic relations committee. Exports were $496 million and imports $525 million. Pacific Rim countries accounted for 84 percent of the total with Japan, China and South Korea heading the list.