22 Nov 2022 15:45

Rosatom expects cargo turnover of 34 mln tonnes along NSR in 2022, to exceed plan

MOSCOW. Nov 22 (Interfax) - Russia's Rosatom state nuclear energy corporation expects the volume of cargo shipped along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) to be about 34 million tonnes in 2022, Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev said.

"We expect cargo turnover this year along the NSR to be around 34 million tonnes. This is two million tonnes above the target for the corresponding federal NSR project and, in terms of Russian cargo transportation by Russian shippers, about 800,000 tonnes above last year's record amount," Likhachev said when reporting to President Vladimir Putin during the ceremony to raise the Russian flag on the "Ural" nuclear icebreaker and to launch the "Yakutia" nuclear icebreaker.

Likhachev recalled that the government had approved a plan for developing the NSR by 2035.

"According to our estimates, shipping along the NSR should exceed 200 million tonnes by 2035. The overall macroeconomic effect should exceed 33 trillion rubles, and we expect the corresponding tax revenues to exceed 13 trillion rubles," Likhachev said.

Likhachev said that Russia would have to build more than 70 ice-class vessels in the near future, including icebreaking vessels and cargo ships for export and domestic transportation.