At one of the round tables of the Caucasian Investment Exhibition on May 3, Sergey Melikov, the head of Dagestan, said that the Makhachkala Sea Commercial Port is considering the possibility of exporting fertilizers and timber. "Negotiations about this are being conducted with Iraq, Iran, India, other countries of Asia and the Middle East," he added.

According to Melikov, it is planned to ensure the return import of goods from these countries in the future. "This is very important for our country, including container transportation. The logistics chain of container transportation from India has already been tested," the head of Dagestan said.

Notably, the Makhachkala Sea Trade Port is Russia's only non-freezing and deep-water port in the Caspian Sea, which accepts vessels up to 150 m long and with a draft of up to 4.5 m. grain terminal. At the end of 2022, dry cargo transshipment at the port increased by 45% compared to the previous year.

As previously reported by Caucasus Watch, General Director of Makhachkala Port Rustam Karimov said, "Sea trade port of Makhachkala intends to significantly increase the transshipment of cement and other building materials from Iran, part of which will be directed to the restoration of the [separatist] DPR and LPR." According to him, at the moment, there is a greater interest in construction materials coming from Iran.