Yachts moor in Sochi – Kommersant FM

Sochi is expecting increased demand for yacht moorings during the high season. The figure has already increased by 20-30% compared to autumn 2022. This was reported at the Black Sea yacht club Sochi Grand Marina. At the same time, in summer the mooring places were filled by 90%. According to industry experts, this was due to the fact that, due to sanctions, many yachts were returning from abroad to Russia. The Association for the Development of Yacht Tourism and Marinas stated that in the summer there were not enough mooring places on the coast.

And insufficient infrastructure is the main problem for the industry in Sochi, confirms Olga Shebzukhova, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Alliance Marine Development group:

“There has always been great interest in owning yachts and boats in our country. Our compatriots continue to buy foreign boats and keep them in foreign parking lots only for the reason that our number of parking spaces is not increasing to the extent that the market needs.

In the absence of supply, the cost of existing spaces in marinas will increase. The need for passenger along-coast communication also determines this shortage, but this communication cannot be established for the same reason – due to the lack of parking.

How has the situation changed compared to last year or two years ago? With the development of interest in domestic tourism, interest in visiting the Black Sea resorts and historical cities located on the Volga is gradually growing. And according to today’s dynamics of accommodation facilities, there are also not enough hotels during the season. In Sochi, hotels are fully booked because a large number of events are planned; several regattas will be held in a row in September.

The industry is now faced with a shortage of infrastructure, not only places for mooring yachts and boats, but also the possibility of servicing and refueling. For example, in the Sochi marina – the best in Russia – there is no full-fledged refueling, places to accommodate crews, to serve crews as employees of this industry, bases where repairs can be carried out.”

However, managing partner of Burevestnik Group Andrey Boyko believes that the demand for parking this year has not increased significantly. And the factors for serious growth in the future are also not enough, the expert insists:

“It’s high season, the marina is full as planned. In autumn and winter, demand traditionally decreases, because the summer rush is associated with the fact that tourist traffic intensifies. Owners start to travel, and so the boats end up somewhere. Sochi Marina is the only one at the moment that can accommodate a sufficient number of yachts and provide comfortable parking. By autumn, by winter, demand will decrease, it will return to a constant component, when boats will simply wait for the next season.

In order for demand to grow by 20-30%, the fleet must grow by 20-30%, but so far such a trend has not been observed. The fleet is not growing, and I personally don’t see any global prerequisites for this.”

By 2030, the number of yacht infrastructure facilities on the Azov-Black Sea coast should increase to 44. Of these, seven will be built in the Kherson, Zaporozhye and Donetsk regions. There are plans to create 10 yacht marinas on the coast in Sochi. The implementation of the first four projects is estimated at 1 trillion rubles.

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Elena Tyuleneva