Editing Volga (section)

==Navigation==
[[File:Volgograd. River Station P8080529 2200.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|left|The Volga at Volgograd]]
[[File:Utes step raz2.jpg|upright=0.95|thumb|In some locations, the Volga has a rocky west bank.]]
The Volga, widened for navigation purposes with construction of huge dams during the years of [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[industrialization]], is of great importance to inland shipping and transport in Russia: all the dams in the river have been equipped with large (double) [[Canal lock|ship locks]], so that vessels of considerable dimensions can travel from the [[Caspian Sea]] almost to the upstream end of the river.

Connections with the river [[Don River, Russia|Don]] and the [[Black Sea]] are possible through the [[Volga–Don Canal]]. Connections with the lakes of the North ([[Lake Ladoga]], [[Lake Onega]]), [[Saint Petersburg]] and the [[Baltic Sea]] are possible through the [[Volga–Baltic Waterway]]; and commerce with Moscow has been realised by the [[Moscow Canal]] connecting the Volga and the [[Moskva River]].

This infrastructure has been designed for vessels of a relatively large scale (lock dimensions of {{convert|290|×|30|m|ft}} on the Volga, slightly smaller on some of the other rivers and canals) and it spans many thousands of kilometers. A number of formerly state-run, now mostly privatized, companies operate passenger and cargo vessels on the river; [[Volgotanker]], with over 200 [[petroleum tanker]]s, is one of them.

In the later [[Soviet Union|Soviet era]], up to the modern times, [[grain]] and oil have been among the largest cargo exports transported on the Volga.
<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1016/S1353-2561(01)00050-0 |title=Prediction of the Dispersal of Oil Transport in the Caspian Sea Resulting from a Continuous Release |year=2000 |last1=Korotenko |first1=K. A. |last2=Mamedov |first2=R. M. |last3=Mooers |first3=C. N. K. |journal=Spill Science & Technology Bulletin |volume=6 |issue=5–6 |pages=323}}</ref> Until recently access to the Russian waterways was granted to foreign vessels on a very limited scale. The increasing contacts between the European Union and Russia have led to new policies with regard to the access to the Russian inland waterways.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.noordersoft.com/indexen.html |title=NoorderSoft Waterways Database |publisher=Noordersoft.com |access-date=11 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051109123915/http://www.noordersoft.com/indexen.html |archive-date=9 November 2005}}</ref>