Page 104 - RusRPTMay19

9.1.12 Transport sector news
● Trains
Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved the construction of a high-speed highway from Moscow to St. Petersburg, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed after reports by Vedomosti and Kommersant. Putin wrote “I Agree” in a letter with a proposal for the resumption of the project, which he sent the acting governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov and CEO of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov. Beglov and Belozerov believe that travel time between Moscow and St. Petersburg will be reduced to two hours on the expressway, and passenger traffic will increase from 11mn to 33mn people per year. In 2015, Russian Railways estimated the railway’s price tag at $15bn but according to experts consulted by Vedomosti, the cost could now be as high as $16bn. According to Peskov, the final decision on another major infrastructure project, the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway, has not been made yet. “No final decision has been taken, the work will be continued to clarify the economic feasibility, economic opportunities, timing, and so on,” he said.
● Ships
Russia will invest RUB735bn ($11.4bn) in the Northern Sea Route through to 2024, the head of Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev said in an interview with TASS at the International Arctic Forum. He added that budget funds will account for one third of this amount. "To date, the federal project for the development of the Northern Sea Route has been approved in the amount of financing of RUB735bn until 2024. Only 274bn have been allocated from budget funds. Over 460bn should be invested by Rosatom and subsoil users - Novatek, Rosneft and others," he said as cited by Tass. The Northern Sea Route is the main sea communication in the Russian Arctic. Russia's Ministry of Transport has forecast the cargo turnover along it will grow by 2020 "tenfold" - to 65mn tonnes a year. NSR crosses seas of the Arctic Ocean (Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi Seas) and the Bering Sea of the Pacific Ocean. The Northern Sea Route is about 5,600km long. The distance from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok along NSR is about 14,000km (or about 23,000km along the Suez Canal).
104 RUSSIA Country Report May 2019 www.intellinews.com