Azernews.Az

MOSCOW – Russia’s Caspian Sea fleet will get 16 new warships and missile boats by 2020, the Russian Navy Commander Vladimir Vysotsky has said.

Speaking at a session of the Russian government's Maritime Board on Wednesday, Vysotsky said that the military flotilla based on the Caspian Sea will be provided with "at least 16" new ships by 2020, Interfax reports.

The missile carrying boats Tatarstan and Volgodonsk, as well as three assault ships, will join the flotilla this year, he said.

It is also planned to extend piers at the port of Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala. This way the fleet will be made up of two units: one based in Makhachkala and the other one in Astrakhan – a port city on the Volga River delta.

In addition, the Russian Navy is to deploy new coastal missile units and aviation groups in this strategically-important and oil-rich region of the country.

The Caspian Sea is extremely rich in natural resources. According to estimates, about 18 billion tonnes of hydrocarbons are contained in its seabed, which is comparable with the deposits in the Persian Gulf.

The Caspian Sea is also home to about 80 per cent of the world’s sturgeon, bearing the three most valuable and rarest varieties of caviar – Beluga, Osetra and Sevruga.

The sea is shared between five nations: four former Soviet republics – Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan – and Iran.