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Weekly Lists
November 16, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 24
bne:
Infrastructure
Warmer climate could add an extra month per year to Northern Sea Route navigation
Croatia’s Dubrovnik airport plans new terminal for summer season
Global warming that has already produced consistently higher tem- peratures mean that the navigation along Russia's Northern Sea Route could be extended by one additional month each year, Tass said on November 12 citing Professor Oleg Anisimov of the State Hydrology Institute.
"Currently, the Northern Sea Route’s exploitation term is about two months, and forecasts based on climate models say the term may be extended by another month in the middle of the century, making it three months, which opens new economic opportunities," Anisi- mov argued, as cited by Tass.
The navigation would still require ice breakers, although the ice will be thinner, other researchers presenting alongside Anisimov said. The northern route cuts weeks off the trip between Europe and Asia.
Croatia’s Dubrovnik airport plans to build a new terminal which
it will use during the busy summer season, the airport's general services manager, Luko Vuletic, told exyuaviation.com on November 11.
Traffic at Croatian airports has been increasing robustly thanks to a favourable tourism season. The airport in Dubrovnik saw its traffic rise 10.5% to 383,282 passengers in September alone, according to the latest data released by the statistics office.
The new terminal at Dubrovnik airport could open in 2025 or 2026, according to Vuletic. "Current capacity is at five million passengers and I believe this will be sufficient for some time,” he said.
The transformation of Ukraine’s state-owned rail operator continues. Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railway) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed on November 9 a $150mn loan agreement to purchase freight railcars, both entities reported the same day.
The loan will be provided for ten years with a two-year grace period and equal semi-annual repayments afterwards, Ukrainian Railway said. The tender for the purchase of gondola railcars under the contract has already been announced, the company said. Railcar deliveries under the project are expected to start this year and continue for six months.
Ukrainian Railway signs $150mn local agreement with EBRD for wagons