Commercial Sea Port “Lavna”, LLC has obtained the status of Arctic Capital PDA resident, says State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK) responsible for construction of Lavna. GTLK has played the key role in development of the project’s financial model. Construction of commercial sea port “Lavna” on the western shore of the Kola Bay was resumed after the pandemic in September 2021.
“Granting of the status of Arctic Capital PDA resident to Lavna confirms the significance of the project. Lavna’s three major advantages are the following: it is a deep-water non-freezing port with a direct entry into the neutral waters. According to our estimates, the port can be involved in the Northern Sea Route traffic while opening new markets for exports to the APR countries. Besides, it should be noted that RF Government revised the parameters of the concession agreement on Lavna project on February 17 to synchronize its terms with the roadmap for Comprehensive Development of Murmansk Transportation Hub”, said Yevgeny Ditrikh, General Director of GTLK.
Priority Development Area “Arctic Capital” (Arctic Capital PDA) was established by RF Government’s Decree No 656 dated 12 May 2020. It is an advanced special economic zone covering the territory of Murmansk and the Kola District of the Murmansk Region.
Lavna project is a part of Murmansk Transport Hub project. It is included in the Comprehensive Plan for Modernization and Expansion of Main Infrastructure (CPMI) till 2024, Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation and Federal Targeted Programme “Development of Russia’s Transport System”. Its implementation will help redirect Russia’s export cargo base from the Baltic states’ ports to domestic facilities and increase the NSR cargo flow.
The terms of the concession agreement for financing of Lavna port construction were approved by RF Government on 1 October 2018. The concession agreement provides for construction of a coal terminal, development of the existing railway infrastructure on the eastern coast of the Kola Bay and construction of new railway infrastructure of the western coast.
A deep-water berth of 660 meters in length will be able to accommodate two large bulk carriers with deadweight of 20 to 150,000 tonnes. The Kola Bay is ice fee round the year, so the terminal will operate in all seasons without involvement of icebreakers.