Active construction of NLR to begin this year - Putin

MOSCOW. April 13 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed that active construction of the Northern Latitudinal Railway (NLR) begin in 2022.

"As for Russian oil, gas, and coal, we will be able to increase their consumption on the domestic market, stimulate deep processing of raw materials, and increase supplies of energy commodities to other regions of the world, where they are really needed. To solve this problem, we use all available opportunities, including the development of transport corridors. This includes the Northern Latitudinal Railway. Active construction on the facilities of this route must begin this year. I would like to draw the attention of the government, Russian Railways, Gazprom and the other companies involved in this project to this direct order. I ask you to look at it in this way. We have been working on the Northern Latitudinal Railway for a long time. The launch of this project will allow, among other things, to relieve the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway, and this is fundamentally important given the reorientation to the east of our main export resources," Putin said via videoconference on Wednesday during a meeting on the development of the Russian Arctic.