Khabarovsk Governor Denounces Moscow’s Plans to Scrap Older Ships before New Ones are Built, Warning This would Lead to Economic ‘Paralysis’ and Isolation of Population Centers

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 18 – The leader of Khabarovsk Kray, recently appointed by the Kremlin to ensure obedience, has denounced Moscow’s plan to scrap older riverine ships before the country can purchase or build new ones, a move Governor Dmitry Demeshin says will lead to economic “paralysis” and the isolation of population centers now supplied only by rivers. 

            At the end of last year, Moscow officials proposed scrapping riverine ships older than 40 years in order to boost the construction of new ones, a move they argued would help the country’s economy and improve efficiency (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2025/11/to-boost-shipbuilding-russias.html).   

            As almost always given Moscow’s preferences, this plan involved a one-size-fits-all approach despite the fact that some regions are more dependent on riverine shipping than others and that the loss of older ships before new ones are constructed would have the most dire consequences.

            One of the regions that would be hit hardest by such an approach is the Russian Far East and especially Khabarovsk Kray; and the governor of that enormous region has denounced Moscow’s plan and called instead for a differentiated approach that would take into account the specific needs of specific regions (sibmix.com/?doc=19520).

            Demeshin and his subordinates are now pointing out that the fleet in the Amur basin is so old – with the average age of vessels there now standing at 46 and where only 73 of the 838 ships are newer than 24 years – that the imposition of this new Moscow standard would destroy fishing, trade, and transportation to many distant population points.

            Moscow is unlikely take the Khabarovsk governor’s complaints into account, but his words highlight three things that Moscow and those who seek to understand Russian life need to keep in mind. First, even officials Moscow appoints to control the situation may oppose the center if the center’s policies hurt them and their regions.

            Second, their complaints to Moscow will mean that more people in their regions will know about what the center is doing and that they will conclude that criticism of the center is legitimate. And third, those living far beyond the ring road will recognize just how out of touch the rulers in Moscow are from the rest of the country and especially its most distant regions.