Within 2015-2016, new specialized terminals and railroads will be built in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, making the area an equal participant in the new Eurasian corridor from Scandinavia through the CIS-states to the Far East and the Pacific Ocean, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.
The project, which includes the Norwegian proposal to connect the Norwegian border town Kirkenes with Nikel by railroad, has been prepared by the Ministry of Transport and the Bureau for Sea and River Transport and will be presented at the Murmansk International Economic Forum by Aleksandr Davydenko, Head of the Bureau for Sea and River Transport.
The total cargo turn-over in Murmansk ports is expected to rise by more than one third after the expansion and save Russia for large expenses on transit through neighboring countries.
Arkhangelsk port is experiencing capacity problems, as reported by BarentsObserver, and the new plans include building of a new deepwater port in Sukhoye, 60 kilometers outside Arkhangelsk. The new port will be connected to Arkhangelsk by railroad.
Port representatives in Kirkenes have long argued that an extension of the Russian railway grid to Kirkenes could significantly benefit Russian industrial companies, already now experiencing the mounting pressure on the ports in Murmansk. Only about 30 km of railway remains to be built in order to link Kirkenes with the Russian border town of Nikel.
