Free port of Vladivostok

Since its establishment in 2015, the government has assured that the Free Port would create a distinctive economic zone, attracting foreign investments, facilitating technology transfer, and fostering international expertise, all while promoting grassroots entrepreneurialism.

The free-trade regime began in Kamchatka in 1828, expanded to the Amur region in the mid-1850s, and by 1860, covered the entire territory of today's Primorskii Krai, including Vladivostok, established that same year as a military fort post.

212-FZ, the Free Port's mission is to reclaim Vladivostok and the Russian Far East's historical status as Russia's 'eastern sea gateway'[1] and to foster integration into the Asia-Pacific economy.

While federal policymakers initially emphasized promoting international trade as a primary goal for the Free Port, by 2020, five years later, it was evident that their intention was not to transform Vladivostok—or any part of the Russian Far East—into a free-trade zone.

[11] Importantly, it is increasingly clear that the Free Port does not align with the proclaimed market calculations and is not positioned to become a neoliberal exception to the political and economic norms prevailing in Russia.