2018 July August Marina World

MARKET FOCUS: NORTHERN RUSSIA
The extensive Imperatorsky Yacht Club in St
Petersburg has modern infrastructure and
generous water space.
Highs and lows in
St Petersburg
After several years of uncertainty, marinas in St Petersburg reported recordbreaking
occupancy and profitability in 2017. The Russian north-west coast
now clearly lacks berths and this may push investors to pump money into new
projects. Vladislav Vorotnikov reports
St Petersburg is commonly known
in Russia as its national sea capital.
It is the most popular destination for
yachtsmen in European Russia but,
over the past few years, the local
marinas have faced a tough challenge:
the land they occupy appears to be
more valuable than their business.
“Ten marinas in St Petersburg have
been sold off and closed during the
past five years,” said Alexander Uralov,
spokesman for St Petersburg City Hall.
The new owners have built premium
cottages and hotels on the land. As a
result, the total number of berths in St
Petersburg shrunk from 3,222 in 2012
to around 2,700 in 2017, according to
Uralov, even though some new marinas
have opened in the city during this
period.
There has, however, been a clear
upward trend in the market since
2016. The occupancy of an average
marina in St Petersburg reached an
unprecedented 90% during the last
season, with more local residents
starting to buy yachts and more
foreigners coming in from Europe.
“In the 2017 season the demand was
15 to 20% higher than in the previous
year, when we already had occupancy
ranging from 86 to 89% for most of the
year,” said Oleg Virolainen, chairman of
the board of the Vostochnyi Yacht Club.
“Because of this, the club invested
money last season to expand the
marina, adding 36 new berths.”
It is believed that the shortage of
berths will become even more apparent
over the next few years but this may still
not make for a perfect environment for
investment.
Still not Stockholm
When it comes to the development of
yachting, St Petersburg still lags behind
other major cities in northern Europe.
While Stockholm attracts on average
24,000 yachts per year and Helsinki an
annual figure of 19,000, St Petersburg
records just 6,000 according to
estimates from the All-Russian Yachting
Sport Association.
There are infrastructure problems
on the Russian north-west coast that
hamper the development of yachting,
including the lack of marinas on the
route from Europe to St Petersburg.
“European yachtsmen refrain from
visiting St Petersburg because on the
sea routes in [the north-west of] Russia
there are no berths where one could
wait out a storm,” commented Vladimir
Silkin, chairman of the Yachting Sport
Association.
In addition, there is hardly any winter
Konstantin Fort is a 160-berth
marina with customs clearance.
www.marinaworld.com - July/August 2018 19