“I get the impression that this is nothing but a play staged by state officials,” he underlines.Īnd the war has made everything much more difficult. “I know well the basic federal objectives for goods traffic, and I do not see these kind of volumes,” he says in a lengthy interview to news journal Korabel. Leader of consultancy company Gecon Mikhail Grigoriev says he has been skeptical towards the official government policy at least since 2018 when Vladimir Putin requested that annual goods volumes on the route reach 80 million tons by 2024.Īccording to Grigoriev, it is not clear from where the vast goods volumes will come. The new plan comes after President Vladimir Putin in April this year called for an acceleration of current and future projects in the region.īut far from everyone has faith in the projects. “And it is fully located in our territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone, which is of key importance in a time of external pressure from sanctions and when logistics chains for delivery of goods are disrupted,” he added.
“This is a reliable maritime seaway, widely needed by businesses and of course by the people that live in the Arctic and the Far East,” Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin underlined in a presentation. Nonetheless, the Russian government argues that the Northern Sea Route is a much-needed priority. The plan comes as Russia spends major parts of its state treasury on the war against Ukraine and international sanctions cripple key sectors of its economy. Reportedly, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev locked all involved officials into a small and uncomfortable meeting rom on a top floor in the government building and refused to let people leave until the document was approved by everyone. The adoption of the document did not come easy. Over the period until 2035, a total of 1,8 trillion rubles (€30,1 billion) is to be invested in 152 regional projects.Īmong them is the building of 153 new ice-class ships, including ten icebreakers, twelve new seaports, twelve satellites, thirteen helicopters, several hospitals and search and rescue units.Īll of this will allow Russia to transport up to 100 million tons of goods per year by 2025 and 200 million tons by 2030, the federal Ministry of the Far East and Arctic informs. The development plan that was adopted by the federal government on the 4th of August has grand ambitions for the Russian Arctic. “It is nothing but a play staged by state officials,” a leading Russian expert says about the document. (Alexey Druzhinin/AFP/Getty Images)Ī new government plan for the Northern Sea Route includes unprecedented investments in new ships, infrastructure and natural resource development. Putin has made Arctic development as one of his top priorities. Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) holds an ice pick as he visits an ice cavern in the remote Arctic islands of Franz Josef Land on March 29, 2017.
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