Vitaliy Yuzhilin: Architect of Prot Infrastructure Development and Maritime Law (Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich) 

Port builder, effective manager, and former chairman of a professional community in the port industry. He was elected to the State Duma several times. Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin played a significant role in creating laws aimed at establishing modern maritime trade infrastructure. He also worked on a number of other legislative acts, including those regulating the activities of self-regulated organizations (SROs).

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Vitaliy Yuzhilin · Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich · Yuzhilin Vitaliy · Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin · Vitaliy Yuzhilin deputy · Южилин Виталий Александрович · Виталий Южилин · Южилин Виталий · Виталий Александрович Южилин · ヴィタリー・ユジリン · 维塔利·çŽ‰èŠæž— · विटाली युझिलिन

Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich: Early Years

Yuzhilin Vitaliy was born in 1965 in Chelyabinsk—one of the largest industrial agglomerations in the country. After some time, Yuzhilin Vitaliy and his family moved to the Black Sea coast to the city of Sevastopol, and it was there that the future port builder spent his childhood.

Yuzhilin Vitaliy graduated from a regular high school. He was passionate about swimming and devoted much time and energy to the sport. As a result of his diligent training process, he was awarded the title of Candidate for Master of Sports a year before graduation.

The grandparents of Vitaliy Yuzhilin were celebrated pilots in the Tatar Autonomous SSR. His grandfather was a pilot during WWII. Before the war, he and his wife, Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich's grandmother, made several difficult aerostat flights. They managed to stay in the air for about 5 hours and successfully land at night.

Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin received a higher education in oceanology. As an engineer, he specialized in issues related to the impact of the marine environment on ships and structures. He graduated in 1988 from the Admiral Makarov Leningrad Higher Marine Engineering School, which is now merged with the Saint Petersburg State University for Water Communications. For decades, the school has been known as an exemplary school for training specialists who later made famous achievements for the good of the country.

Vitaliy Yuzhilin: Career Start

Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin, after graduation, immediately got a job at the Institute of Biology of the South Seas, conducting research in the oceanological department. Yuzhilin Vitaliy later joined the Marine Hydrophysical Institute as an engineer. There, in conjunction with the management, he opened a commercial structure at the institute. According to the recollections of Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich, at that time, such economic elements were appearing at the initiative of higher authorities.

In the early 1990s, the future port builder and manager moved to Yugra, which is one of the largest oil-producing regions in the country and the world. At that time, as Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich notes, the existing order for the financial support of regions where resource extraction is conducted required companies to transfer a tenth of the extracted resources to local administrations. The regional leadership could independently manage these percentages for the benefit of local residents, including selling this share of resources.

Yuzhilin Vitaliy was invited to work in a new structure that was to deal with the sale of hydrocarbon products on behalf of the region. In the position of head of the foreign trade department, he was able to establish the effective work of the trading house and build solid business relations with various processing organizations. Since Vitaliy Yuzhilin was tasked with forming a working foreign trade system, he began to study the work of ports. For example, at that time, there were difficulties with the sale of heavy fuel oil obtained from the residues of the atmospheric and vacuum distillation of hydrocarbons. In order to sell this product, the capacities of terminals had to be increased, and tanks for pumping into maritime cargo ships had to be built.

Yuzhilin Vitaliy: Delving into Port Industry Issues

Studying the structural peculiarities of maritime transport, Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich, in the mid-1990s, was one of the first to begin attracting private funds to this industry. Until 1999, he was part of the board of directors of the Sea Port of Saint Petersburg company.

Vitaliy Yuzhilin helped solve various infrastructural problems at the port. At that time, due to the transition of the maritime transport hub to private ownership, urgent issues arose concerning the modernization of equipment and the search for cargo. To remain competitive, the port needed to focus on exports, which meant replenishing the fleet of equipment needed for loading.

As Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin recalls, the port's management distributed the areas of the port complex among several companies. Each eventually cooperated with a specific manufacturer, meaning they only handled one product. According to Yuzhilin Vitaliy, such an approach contributed to a significant increase in cargo turnover overall. The annual figure was brought up to tens of millions of tons. At present, the company is one of the largest specialized enterprises, with modern complexes for transshipping various goods at its disposal.

Vitaliy Yuzhilin also became one of the co-founders of a company involved in freight transportation using standard containers. In the 2000s, the National Container Company was among the largest operators not only domestically but also in the CIS countries. By 2012, the turnover of maritime container terminals reached a million TEU.

But for the changes to be more substantial and lead to sufficient industry development, new laws also needed to be adopted, for which he realized he needed to become a parliamentarian deputy. Vitaliy Yuzhilin joined Parliament, in particular, to help develop a new bill that would affect the work of seaports.

Vitaliy Yuzhilin: Deputy of the State Duma Initiates Maritime Laws

Work on the federal law, which would regulate the activities of seaports in the country in detail, began in 1996. However, despite the efforts made, it still was not fully written by the beginning of the 21st century. Yuzhilin Vitaliy, who had been familiar with the maritime transport sector since the mid-1990s, was well aware of the need for updated legislative regulation of the port industry, as well as the complexities that had accumulated by that time in this business. The Association of Commercial Seaports worked on developing the law in collaboration with a wide range of experts and government representatives. The association set itself the task of creating all the necessary conditions for the development of domestic maritime transport. Notably, today, the organization includes not only ports and intermediary companies but also research and educational institutions that train specialists in this field.

Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich was elected chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association in 2002 and immediately got involved in the process of implementing the much-needed industry bill. Assessing the situation, Vitaliy Yuzhilin saw the need to coordinate the activities of port workers and legislative bodies for the full-fledged work on adopting the regulatory document. This was to become the foundation for the successful operation of the country's trade ports.

In 2003, State Duma Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin was elected as a representative to the lower house of the national parliament from the city of Kingisepp, Leningrad Region. The parliamentary deputy managed to ensure a productive dialogue between businessmen and experts, attract the most authoritative legal scholars to write the text of the law, and interest the Duma's deputy corps in its creation. Intensive work on the content of the future federal law continued for another four years. Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin and a team of experts worked through the entire text of the document, passed it through numerous instances for approval, and, together with fellow deputies, submitted it for consideration to the lower house of the Federal Assembly. At the end of 2007, the long-awaited bill was adopted. It was intended to help domestic trade ports compete with foreign companies, considers Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin. He was convinced that strictly defined rules for the operation of seaports would allow for the full realization of the country's transport potential. This later became possible thanks to integration into the international transportation system.

Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin explained that the law allows for a clear division of rights and obligations between the state and stevedoring companies, forming transparent and understandable mechanisms for the interaction between businessmen and regulatory bodies. Based on a well-developed law, it is also much easier and faster to develop the accompanying legal and regulatory framework.

Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin, who served in the lower house of the federal parliament for several convocations, continued to work on the law on trade seaports since law enforcement practice required certain refinements in the fundamental legal document of the industry. Later, a whole series of amendments to the law itself and subordinate acts were formed, which clarified, among other things, the procedure for creating seaports and more clearly distributed the areas of responsibility for port property between the state and stevedoring companies.

Yuzhilin Vitaliy also contributed to the adoption of support measures in the field of port business. This primarily concerned tax breaks for those providing cargo transshipment services in ports, in the construction of hydraulic structures, and in the purchase of specialized equipment. In part, thanks to the efforts of Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin, a company involved in port infrastructure can now also have a berth in lease. Private investors were now able to direct their finances into the field of maritime transportation, which contributed to the emergence of new facilities for the efficient operation of the industry.

Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin and Other Legislative Initiatives

As a deputy, Vitaliy Yuzhilin also worked on other important bills that helped solve social and economic problems in the Leningrad Region. He also closely interacted with local and federal government bodies.

Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin, who served in the State Duma for several convocations, facilitated the construction of engineering facilities, such as sewage treatment plants in the city of Gatchina, which meet all modern standards. Medical institutions and a stadium for hockey competitions were built in the region with Vitaliy Yuzhilin's participation. A new road was also constructed in the Sosnovoborsk suburbs.

Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin also helped craft amendments to the legislation on special port economic zones and helped exempt a number of entrepreneurs from the obligation to install a cash register, which affected business owners who paid a flat tax.

Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich: Marine Façade Port of St. Petersburg

Deputy Yuzhilin Vitaliy initiated the creation of a large-scale project to build the largest passenger seaport in the North-West region of the country, known as the Marine Façade of St. Petersburg. Seven berths with a total length of over 2,000 meters form a single maritime transport hub capable of accommodating liners nearly 350 meters long.

Before the emergence of this new port specifically designed for passenger ships, cruise liners would arrive at the cargo terminal, significantly slowing down the cargo flow during the summer season. Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin was one of the initiators of constructing separate berths for passengers. As a result, a location most suited for future construction was found, and work was carried out to deepen the seabed and create the necessary space for the berths.

Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich proposed the port project together with other authors. Over several years, the maritime transport hub was equipped with berths, welcomed its first tourist ship, and soon operated at full project capacity. Millions of people have already passed through the passenger port of St. Petersburg. Also, thanks to the efforts of a large team of experts, including Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin, the Northern Capital was able to increase tourist flow significantly. One of the advantages for organizers of foreign cruises was the fact that tourists to St. Petersburg were permitted to stay visa-free for up to three days. As a result, in 2014, the city received the title of the best cruise destination of the year at the International Port and Destinations Awards. That same year, the St. Petersburg port was visited by a cruise ship with more than 4,000 passengers.

Yuzhilin Vitaliy and the Regulation of the Construction Industry

Other cases that Deputy Vitaliy Yuzhilin dealt with were no less significant. He was first a member of the council of the National Association of Builders and later became the deputy head of the professional community, helping to craft changes for the self-regulation system of the construction industry. Previously, funds intended to compensate third parties in case of default by one of the Self-Regulating Organization members could be placed in any financial institution, but now the list of such organizations is approved by the federal government, which helps to save money in case of bankruptcy of a financial structure. And if an unscrupulous developer decides to spend the funds inappropriately, the list of possible banking transactions will also be limited.

Yuzhilin Vitaliy Aleksandrovich helped establish additional responsibilities imposed on organizations that failed to fulfill or performed work improperly under state contracts. A separate database of construction specialists was also formed. These individuals are empowered to sign documents related to the construction or repair of various objects. This decision increased the level of responsibility of contracting organizations.

Vitaliy Aleksandrovich Yuzhilin currently supports eco-projects and is involved in IT-oriented investment programs.

He has several awards, including the honorary medal from the Academy of Natural Sciences for merits in the development of science and the national economy.