The government has initiated a development plan for Murmansk to become a key transportation hub, Ivanov told his superior Vladimir Putin at a presidium meeting in Moscow Thursday, reported at the government’s web-portal.
- Murmansk represents one of the country’s most promising transportation hubs because its waters do not freeze in the winter and provide ships with direct access to the ocean, Ivanov told Putin.
The governmental Sea Board will meet in Murmansk on Saturday to consider an investment plan for Murmansk that includes the construction of a new seaport in Murmansk Bay. The board is chaired by Sergei Ivanov.
Interviewed by The Moscow Times transportation analyst with Troika Dialog, Mr. Mikahil Ganelin explained why Murmansk attracts such attention: - Murmansk has a number of advantages as a seaport. It’s very close to Europe, while St. Petersburg is already overloaded. Russia needs more deep-water and non-freezing ports accessible to Europe, said Mikhail Ganelin.
So far, the governmental Sea Board has not provided an investment estimate for the project, but Ganelin said to The Moscow Times that it might run into the billions of dollars. Building additional needed infrastructure would likely increase the costs.
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In his welcoming greetings at the Arctic International Economical Forum in Murmansk today, Sergey Ivanov said:
- I am very happy, that the strategic national mission of the Arctic exploration and development now has the continuous expert ground in Murmansk. The Arctic is one of the foundation stones of safety, sustainable technical and economic development of our state. Our common task is to formulate and implement all worth initiatives of the government, business and foreign colleagues in all the activities, connected with the Arctic, Ivanov said.
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The plans do develop the Murmansk harbour into a transport hub includes a new coal harbour, container harbour, more oil-reloading terminals, cargo-terminal and new railroad lines on the west side of the Kola Bay.
