Putin signs bill authorizing Rosatom to manage Northern Sea Route shipping

MOSCOW. June 28 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill into law that centralizes the authority to manage navigation in the waters of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in Rosatom.

The law has been published on the official Internet portal for legal information.

The Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) previously held the power to issue permission for passage through the Northern Sea Route, coordinating with Rosatom.

"Policy management, matters of international operations, and control and supervision remain under the jurisdiction of the Transport Ministry and its subordinate agency," Sergei Novikov, deputy head of Rosatom, said when presenting the document in the State Duma.

The law envisages organizing navigation along the Northern Sea Route on the basis of the federal state budgetary institution subordinate to Rosatom, and the mechanism for issuing permits for navigation has been changed.

"Only the issuance of permits for a long period are currently envisaged, for a year in fact. In accordance with the bill, there is a proposal that these permits for navigation along the NSR in addition to being issued could be suspended, renewed, amended, or revoked. These legal innovations are extremely important in light of a substantial increase in cargo traffic along the NSR and issues related to ensuring the safety of navigation," Novikov said.

The possibility of revoking and modifying permits for passage along the Northern Sea Route will render the route safe, and there will be no situations in which Atomflot actually performs rescue operations, he said.

The law was adopted by the State Duma on June 21, 2022 and approved by the Federation Council on June 22, 2022.

Rosatom became the Northern Sea Route's infrastructure development operator in 2018, which includes the nuclear icebreaker fleet. Rosatom and the Transport Ministry disagreed on administrative duties during discussions on division of power on the Northern Sea Route.