GTLK Head Yevgeny Ditrikh, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Vasily Desyatkov, Murmansk Region Governor Andrey Chibis and Russian Railways Head Oleg Belozerov have visited the construction site of port Lavna and estimated the project readiness at 57%, according to GTLK post on its Telegram channel.
The participants of the meeting on implementation of Comprehensive Development of Murmansk Transport Hub have discussed coordination of works on construction of Lavna in compliance with the construction schedule.
“We are set to put Lavna into operation in the end of 2023 as it was promised earlier. The first shipments of coal are scheduled for 2024. The coal terminal will have a capacity of 18 million tonnes per year,” said Yevgeny Ditrikh.
Port Lavna is among the major projects for the Murmansk Region and for the entire economy of Russia. It is to become one of the key transport hubs on the Northern Sea Route (NSR).
In today’s reality, Lavna is of the utmost importance due to its natural advantages - deep water, non-freezing, direct access to neutral waters.
Coal terminal Lavna project is a part of Murmansk Transport Hub project. It is included in the Comprehensive Development of Murmansk Transport Hub being implemented under the state programme “Transport System Development”. 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.
In December 2022, Murmansk Region Governor Andrey Chibis announced that the Russian Government allocated RUB 37.7 billion for the project.