Construction

Construction is one of investment-attracting economic sectors having extensive inter-relationships with other branches. Its percentage in the region’s total GDP is 5%.

The important role of extractive industries requires continuous investment in new facilities which makes an objective factor for developing the construction sector. Nevertheless, the volume of construction works has considerably dropped during last 10 years; for instance, reduction in housing construction was 20-30% which had its effects on the building materials industry and the total value of performed construction works. The RFE’s total industrial output dropped from 6.5% to 1.6%.

Still, the dynamic differs from region to region: in some areas the peak of recession in the construction sector was passed in 1998 and real volume of operations is growing.

Transport

Transport plays an important role in RFE economy due to its geographic position, economic specialization and specifics of production. It accounts for over 10% of the region’s total GDP. Transport costs have become a principal factor in the disintegration of the regional economy from the central part of Russia. Specific of the transport sector is orientation at cargo transit which accounts for more than 80% of rail and sea traffic. It is mainly foreign trade flows from other Russian regions and CIS states to Asian Pacific countries.

The Russian Far East uses all existing transport modes, but the principal role belongs to railway transport, which handles up to 80% of cargo traffic. Main railroads pass across the central and southern parts of the region. They are eastern sections of the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur railroads. The largest railroad is Trans-Siberian. The termini of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian lie in sea ports: Vanino, Vladivostok, Vostochny, Zarubino, Nakhodka, Posyet, Sovetskaya Gavan. RFE railways are connected with China’s northeast provinces in several points.

The sea transport accounts for 15% of the region’s freight traffic. The total number and deadweight of ships considerably decreased in the last years. The bulk of the fleet is dry cargo carriers (container ships, reefers, timber carriers, bulk carriers, ferryboats, etc.), the rest is tankers and icebreakers. More than 50% of foreign trade cargoes are carried by foreign ships among which there are many Russian ships flying "convenient" flags.

There are more than 30 sea ports scattered along the RFE’s coast, the largest of which are ten major ports providing round-the-clock services: in Primorye - Vladivostok, Vostochny, Nakhodka, Posyet, Khasansky (Zarubino), in the Khabarovsky Krai - Vanino, on Sakhalin - Kholmsk and Korsakov, in the Far North - Magadan and Petropavlovsk- Kamchatski. These ports handle over 90% of the region’s cargo turnover.

The river transport is represented by major shipping companies, river ports, ship repairing and shipbuilding yards, small agency companies. The river fleet is composed of ships of various designations, including general-purpose multi-use ships of "river-sea" type capable of navigating both along inland waterways and on the high seas.

Amur Shipping Company handles traffic in the Amur Basin area. Total length of navigable waterways is about 5,000 km. The largest river ports having railway access are Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Blagoveshchensk, Svobodny, Poyarkovo.

The air transport plays a critical role in the life of the Russian Far East, especially in outlying areas of the Far North where there are no railways and navigation period is short (Chukotka, Magadan, northern Sakha). It connects the region with the rest of Russia, handles intra-regional traffic and provides international linkages.

The airports of all RFE administrative centers are open to international flights. Since 1991, the volume of international traffic (USA, South Korea, Australia and others) have accounted for a considerable portion of passenger traffic.

The road transport plays an important role in passenger and cargo traffic and in some areas (lacking railways) is a predominant transport mode. Thus, on Kamchatka and the Magadanskaya Oblast its percentage in the total volume of traffic exceeds 70%. The road infrastructure is rather developed. Total length of paved automobile roads is about 25,000 km, of which more than 70% is found in the south of the region.