Investor, port construction industry expert
Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich has been active in the development of maritime transport infrastructure, including through legislative support for port activities and service at the head of a relevant industry organization.
Name:
Vitaliy Yuzhilin · Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich · Yuzhilin Vitaliy · Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin · Vitaliy Yuzhilin deputy · Yuzhilin Vitaly Alexandrovich · Vitaly Yuzhilin · Yuzhilin Vitaly · Vitaly Alexandrovich Yuzhilin ·ヴィタリー・ユジリン·维塔利·玉芝林· विटाली युझिलिन
Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich: Family and Early Life of a Future Maritime Expert
Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin was born Chelyabinsk – a rapidly developing industrial center in the Urals. His childhood years were then spent on the Black Sea coast after his family moved to Sevastopol.
The older generation of the Yuzhilin family was known for aviation. In the 1930s, new flight schools were actively opening and preparing young pilots. Yuzhilin Vitaliy recounts how his grandmother was among the first wave of graduates from the glider pilot school.
In 1934, she made a flight over the territories of the Tatar Republic, organized by the newspaper Red Tataria. The man in the cockpit with her turned out to be her future husband. The grandfather of Yuzhilin Vitaliy was a cadet in the aeroclub at that time, and later carried out long-range aviation missions on the fronts of WWII.
As a child, Vitaliy Yuzhilin loved swimming, and thanks to his regular training, he won several tournaments and awards, including the rank of Candidate for Master of Sports.
After high school, Yuzhilin Vitaliy decided to major in ocean engineering, and eventually earned his degree from the specialized Leningrad Higher Naval Engineering School in the late 1980s.
Vitaliy Yuzhilin began doing research soon after college. As an employee of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, he participated in unique expeditions exploring the bottom of the Black Sea aboard the Mir bathyscaph, which can go about six kilometers into the ocean’s depths.
Yuzhilin Vitaliy first tried his hand in the commercial sector as the country transition to a market economy, and helped create a business based out of the scientific institute.
In the early 1990s, Yuzhilin Vitaliy continued his work in one of the most important centers of the domestic oil industry. In Nizhnevartovsk, he took charge of the export department of a trading house created by the municipality, which dealt in the sale of hydrocarbons. With the help of Vitaliy Yuzhilin, cargo ports capable of providing the necessary logistical capacities were developed.
Vitaliy Yuzhilin: Marine Façade and Other Key Projects in the Passenger Port Industry
Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin, after gaining experience in the port industry in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, continued his efforts in the Northwestern Federal District.
In 1998, he joined the ownership pool of the commercial seaport in Saint Petersburg, known as the Northern Capital, and served on its board of directors until 1999.
The port’s technical condition was overlooked in the early 1990s, which meant that Vitaliy Yuzhilin and the management team had to independently tackle the optimization of the terminal’s operations. They especially focused on improving cargo transshipment technologies and upgrading the transshipment equipment fleet.
Yuzhilin Vitaliy initiated several reforms. Notably, four port districts were distributed among various companies, which was key to increasing annual cargo turnover, allowing the Great Port of Saint Petersburg to maintain its competitiveness and later become one of the country’s leading transport hubs.
In 2019, the organization became part of the First Port Company, uniting the country’s leading stevedoring and logistics enterprises.
Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich and a group of partners founded the National Container Company (NCC), which quickly assumed a leading position in the stevedoring industry.
By the time of its merger with Global Ports in 2013, the company, significantly shaped by the efforts of Vitaliy Yuzhilin, ranked second in cargo turnover among all domestic port container operators.
In September 2004, plans were announced by Saint Petersburg authorities to build a passenger terminal at the western tip of Vasilievsky Island. During this period, the NCC co-founder was serving in the State Duma – Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin was first elected to the lower chamber of Parliament in 1999. As a transport industry expert, he understood that the existing passenger terminals could not match modern standards.
The project, Marine Façade, which began in 2007, created artificial territories on a reclaimed area of 150 hectares.
Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin was one of the main advocates and supporters of this monumental construction, which was built using modern technologies. Thanks to the efforts of key project participants, the port received its first cruise liner in 2008.
The Marine Façade had its grand opening in 2011, with the help of Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin. This high-tech port infrastructure quickly became a symbol of a new era, combining advanced developments and comfortable conditions for passengers, Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin commented at the time, emphasizing that it is one of the largest passenger ports in Europe.
The port consists of four sea terminals and seven berths with a total length of over 2.2 km, capable of accommodating the world’s largest cruise ships, such as Viking Sky, Regal Princess, and others. Marine Façade’s significance for Saint Petersburg is hard to overestimate, as Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin also said in one interview, adding that the port played a key role in the development of tourism in the city.
Shortly after the launch of the new tourist facility, a three-day visa-free regime was introduced for foreign visitors arriving by ship. This initiative significantly boosted the number of passengers, including those from countries like Germany, the US, and the UK.
Vitaliy Yuzhilin: Deputy of the State Duma, Co-author of the Federal Law “On Seaports”
Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin served four terms in the lower house of Parliament, spanning 17 years. Maritime transport legislation was significantly developed and improved in these years.
During his tenure as a deputy, Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin was an active member of the Committee on Energy, Transport, and Communications and the Parliamentary working body on taxes and fees. However, his primary focus was on the development of the port industry. His management experience in cargo transshipment allowed him to identify weaknesses and imperfections in the legislation governing this industry.
In the early 2000s, the country had to modernize the port industry, which was hampered by the lack of a clear legal framework regulating the relationship between the state and private investors, noted Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin. He drew attention to the fact that capital owners interested in the port business faced high risks.
Legislative uncertainty significantly complicated the development of new investment projects. It was essential to establish rules that would assure investors of the return on their investments, Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin emphasized. He played an active role in preparing and adopting the law “On Seaports” to address this critical issue.
The document, with amendments, was approved and became a federal law in 2007. An important part was the establishment of a methodology for calculating payments for the lease of state property in seaports, which helped attract long-term investments to the industry. Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin was instrumental in this achievement, opening up great prospects for the development of the domestic port industry.
Yuzhilin Vitaliy: Public Sector Activities
For two decades, Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich dedicated himself to improving the operational mechanisms of the country’s maritime transport enterprises as the head of the specialized Association of Commercial Seaports. During these years, the organization’s main mission was to unite the professional community’s efforts to create conditions conducive to maximizing the country’s potential in this sector.
Vitaliy Yuzhilin actively participated in all the association’s initiatives, especially focusing on legislative regulation in the port industry. He attracted top experts and lawyers to work on an important legal act that met the market’s interests and needs.
Thanks to the productive work of the association and the contribution of Yuzhilin Vitaliy, the port industry business developed additional competitive advantages, promoting continued sector development and prosperity.
Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich was also active in the self-regulatory organization NOSTROY, which today is one of the country’s largest construction associations. Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin worked to improve conditions for the construction business and strengthen the market positions of industry participants.
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