Companies are to conclude contracts on the annual cargo flow along the Northern Sea Route by October

(INTERFAX.RU) - Companies were given time until October 1, 2022 to conclude agreements with the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East on the annual cargo flow along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), according to a government decree.
Such agreements are to be signed by Rosneft PJSC, Gazprom Neft PJSC, NOVATEK PJSC, as well as Rosatom State Corporation, MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC, Severnaya Zvezda LLC, and Baimskaya Mining Company LLC.
By November 1, 2022, companies are expected to submit reports on ongoing projects to the government. Thus, NOVATEK will have to submit an LNG production project, Rosneft will submit the Vostok Oil project, Gazprom Neft - a project for the development of oil fields, Severnaya Zvezda - a plan for the implementation of a coal project, Baimskaya Mining Company - a mining project, Norilsk Nickel - a number of projects.
On August 4, 2022, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree that approved the NSR development plan until 2035. The total amount of funding for the plan is almost 1.8 trillion rubles, the document includes more than 150 events.
President Vladimir Putin earlier demanded that the plans for the development of cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route should not be postponed, and the goal of increasing cargo traffic along the NSR in the amount of 80 million tons in 2024 remained in place.
Plenipotentiary of the Far Eastern Federal District President Yury Trutnev, who oversees the development of the Arctic, told Interfax that the compiled forecast with a clear link to specific investment projects and legally binding documents serves as a starting point for increasing cargo traffic along the NSR: “As for the immediate prospects, the numbers of cargo traffic (along the Northern Sea Route - IF) of 80 million tons in 2024 are confirmed by agreements between Rosatom, the operator of the Northern Sea Route, and companies. There are four key carriers: NOVATEK, Rosneft, Norilsk Nickel and Severnaya Zvezda. Since the obligations are fixed and the companies understand the full level of responsibility, the government has no doubts about achieving the designated goals either.”