The RF Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic has submitted a draft Bill ON Northern Supply to the Government.
The bill has been preliminarily considered by the Council for the Development of the Russian Far East, Arctic and Antarctic, and the State Duma Committee for the development of the Russian Far East and Arctic.
Prior to this, the document was discussed with and approved by 25 subjects of the Russian Federation and the ministries and departments concerned.
The draft bill provides for implementing a new integrated system to manage the Northern Supply programme. Cargo shipped under the programme will be divided into three commodity groups depending on their priority class.
The draft bill offers measures to support the Northern delivery programme on the federal level including loans and subsidies from the federal budget to finance goods procurement and transportation.
It is expected that delivery under the Northern Supply programme will be the responsibility of a single maritime operator offering services for subsidized tariffs.
According to the Ministry, at present, goods under the Northern Delivery programme are shipped to 25 regions of Russia with a population over 3 million.
Every year, the federal budget allocates more than 87 bn rubles for procuremen and delivery of more than 3 mn tons of cargo.