Day of Water Transport Workers in Russia and Belarus Date in the current year: July 7, 2024

Day of Water Transport Workers was first established in the Soviet Union in 1980. After the dissolution of the USSR, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine continued to celebrate it. However, in 2008 President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko replaced it with Ukrainian Fleet Day celebrated on the last Sunday in July.

Russia has 102,000 km of inland waterways, the basins of major rivers in its European part are connected by the network of channels. It has sea ports on the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, the White Sea, Barents Sea and other seas of Arctic Ocean, seas of Pacific Ocean and the Caspian Sea. Belarus has 2,500 km of waterways and no sea ports as it is a landlocked country. Water transport plays an important role in the transportation systems of both countries.

Professional holidays in Russia and Belarus typically are not non-working days, but as Day of Water Transport Workers always falls on a weekend, it is a non-working holiday for those who work from Monday to Friday. On this day, all water transport are congratulated on their professional holiday by government officials.