Traffic through the new Port of Lavna in Murmansk will be launched in December 2023, Russian Railways CEO – Chairman of the Executive Board Oleg Belozerov said at the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the meeting transcript published on the official website of the Kremlin.
“And another very important area: we will initiate new traffic through the Murmansk transport hub: the new Port of Lavna. We are planning to launch this traffic in December. We will finish next year,” he said.
The President emphasized the importance of the project. “Murmansk transport hub: a lot of issues are being resolved there, because it basically gives us access to the ocean, among other things; reloading onto ships, and solutions to environmental issues are also very important for the city,” he said.
When speaking about the investment programme implementation, Oleg Belozerov said that, state support totaled 467 billion rubles in 2022. “First, 250 billion rubles from the National Welfare Fund will support our investment programme, which is primarily the purchase of passenger cars, part of the Eastern expansion, and 217 billion made it possible to reduce our debt on loans. At the same time, the volume of investment is 883 billion. This has never happened before, plus 25 percent against 2021,” said Oleg Belozerov.
Port Lavna is to become one of the key transport hubs on the Northern Sea Route (Northern Sea Route). Coal terminal Lavna project is a part of Murmansk Transport Hub project. It is included in the Comprehensive Development of Murmansk Transport Hub is being implemented under the state programme Transport System Development and Comprehensive Plan for Modernization and Expansion of Core Infrastructure (CPMI) until 2024.
The project is primarily aimed at creation of a deep-water sea hub operating round the year as a center for handling oil cargo, coal and mineral fertilizers integrated into the North-South international transport corridor. Cargo transportation to the terminal is to begin in December 2023 with the facility to be put into operation in December 2024.
The construction of 46-km long railway approaches is to be financed by the budget with the project providing for the construction of four new railway stations, reconstruction of the Vykhodnoy station, construction of 112 artificial structures, 11 bridges and overpasses, 101 culverts under the railways and 8 culverts under the highways, construction of motorway overpasses. By 2024, the capacity of railway approaches to Murmansk will reach 45 million tonnes per year including 18 million tonnes to Lavna coal terminal.