Northern Sea Route development will be discussed at meeting with Putin in Q1 - Rosatom CEO
HANOI. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Steps to further develop the Northern Sea Route (NSR), both its water area and related automobile and railroad infrastructure, will be discussed at a meeting in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in early 2025, Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev told journalists.
"I believe it will take place in the first quarter. The exact date will be determined by the Presidential Executive Office. There is an instruction to this effect from the president," Likhachev said.
"Taking into account all of the decisions made by the company, we now need to revise the schedule for growth of trade and cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route and act based on the realities which we are facing today," Likhachev said, adding that Arctic projects are generally adapting to the increasing sanctions pressure from the West.
"Naturally, some parameters in terms of extraction and consequently in terms of export cargo transportation will be met a little later. There is nothing wrong with that. The president himself has said that it will most likely be such a last-choice measure, i.e. to slightly postpone the fulfilment of a whole number of parameters," he said.
Rosatom is working with private and state-owned companies operating in the Arctic area to draw up cargo shipping plans for the period until 2030, including for planning the construction of the country's ice-breaker fleet, Likhachev said.
"We are analyzing the situation, working with businesses, working with the government and are laying the groundwork for the Russian president's meeting on the development of the Northern Sea Route already in 'larger NSR' terms. I mean the entire logistics framework stretching from the Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg ports to the Far East's ports. We need to detail scenarios for cargo transportation from the Vilkitsky Strait to the Bering Strait and take a proper look at this large corridor embracing the entire northern transport framework, including the maritime traffic and connections to overland cargo routes. I am speaking about both rail and automobile transport links," he said.