Already in Use by U.S. Companies U.S. exporters and freight forwarders are already using the Volga-Don waterways to reach the Caspian Basin. In 1994, IMC shipped a number of large compressors for a pipeline being built by Pennzoil in Azerbaijan's offshore Guneshli oilfield. IMC used a Turkish freight forwarder to liaise with the Russian authorities. The managers of the Volga-Don ports are keen to work with international customers, which will be easier to do as Russia opens its inland waterways to foreign carriers. The Port of Rostov could double its volume of cargo without any additional equipment and facilities.
International cargoes are of great interest in Volgograd as well.
Yakov Petrenko, General Director of the Volgograd River Port, sees traffic between the Caspian Sea and the Middle East as important for the future of his port. Virtually all the infrastructure at the Volga-Don ports dates from Soviet times. These facilities are currently operating at about 10 percent capacity, according to port managers. As a result, they could easily handle a significant increase in traffic. The drawback to existing facilities, however, is that they are not equipped to handle specialized cargoes.