As part of his working trip to the Leningrad Region, Governor Andrey Chibis took part in a meeting on the safety of navigation in the Baltic Sea led by Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President of Russia and Chairman of the Russian Maritime Board. The meeting was also attended by the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North-Western Federal District, Alexander Gutsan. The meeting was held on the territory of the Ust-Luga seaport.
The Presidential Aide discussed with representatives of federal authorities and the heads of the Northwestern Federal District regions additional measures aimed at developing and ensuring the safety of port infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, as well as measures to diversify transport and logistics routes in conditions of possible restrictions on navigation in the Baltic Sea.
The head of the Murmansk Region, Andrey Chibis, noted that Murmansk is the main port of the Northern Sea Route, the largest ice–free port in the Arctic and the base of Russia's unique nuclear icebreaking fleet.
"Murmansk is the leader in cargo turnover among Arctic ports by a wide range of nomenclature. Already today, we are ready to redirect some of the cargo from other ports of the Northwest to Murmansk for safe access to the World Ocean. We have no restrictions on the size of vessels and provide direct access without passing through international straits," the head of the region emphasized.
The Governor noted that the development of the Murmansk transport hub is of strategic importance not only for the Murmansk region, but also for the entire Arctic zone of Russia. With the participation of the largest Russian shipping companies, work continues to increase the carrying capacity, and new infrastructure is being built. Thus, at the end of 2023, a working movement was launched along a new railway line and bridge from the Exit station to the port of Lavna on the western shore of the Kola Bay. In addition, in March 2025, the shipment of coal from the Lavna coal transshipment complex was launched, the next stage is expected to be commissioned by August, and at the end of the year it will reach its design capacity. A project is being implemented to create a multifunctional cargo transshipment terminal in the Republic of Belarus, a project for a western transport and logistics hub on the western shore of the Kola Bay is being developed, and the marine terminal of the port of Vitino on the White Sea is being restored.
Andrey Chibis also recalled that following his speech at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed in the coming years to increase the capacity of the Murmansk transport hub through the construction of new terminals and the expansion of railway approaches by at least three times. The prospective volume of cargo transportation by rail to the Murmansk seaport by 2030 is about 100 million tons. Cargo range: coal, mineral fertilizers, apatite and iron ore concentrates, general cargo, petroleum products.
During the event, the meeting participants also inspected the facilities and infrastructure of the Ust-Luga seaport.
/ Ministry of Information Policy of the Murmansk Region /
Photo: press service of the Government of the Leningrad region