The Northern Sea Route development project is worth 716 bn rubles (9.6 bn), Russia’s First Vice Premier Andrey Belousov said in a meeting of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development and National Projects held by RF President Vladimir Putin via videoconference.
The Northern Sea Route is part of the East – West corridor system, which consists of the rail corridor connecting Central Russia with sea ports in the Russian Far East and relying on the TransSiberian and Baikal-Amur Railways, the road corridor from Finland via Moscow and Kazan to Yekaterinburg and, as planned, to Chelyabinsk and Tyumen in Siberia, Belousov explained. The Northern Sea Route is the third corridor in this system.
The strategic aim is to develop the Northern Sea Route into a year-round transit corridor by 2030, he said. ‘In 2020, 31 mn tons of cargo was carried by the Northern Sea Route, in 2021, in accordance with the President’s decree, the freight traffic is to make 80 mn tons. By 2030, we plan to transport 150 mn tons including 30 mn tons of transit,’ the Kremlin press service quotes Belousov as saying.
To meet the target, state of the art fleet capable of navigating the Northern Sea Route round the year is being built, and a reliable satellite communication and navigation systems are being developed, Belousov said. He also added that a single digital platform should be developed to monitor cargo movement in a real time mode, as well as the necessary port and energy infrastructure.
According to Belousov, the project is worth 716 bn rubles ($9.6 bn) for the period till 2030. Over 400 mn rubles ($5.4 mn) is to be funded during 2021-2024. Rosatom is expected to fund 250-260 bn ($3.4-3.5 bn), and the National Wealth Fund is to assign 130-140 bn ($1.8-1.9 bn).
The project is being developed according to the schedule, Belousov concluded.