Work on the design of the Belaruskali mineral fertilizer terminal on the western shore of the Kola Bay may begin next year, with the State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK) JSC potentially becoming a partner, Murmansk Region Governor Andrei Chibis said in an interview with Interfax.

"Negotiations are currently underway between three parties - the Murmansk Region, Belarusian partners and the State Transport Leasing Company, which may become a partner in this project. Two optimal sites for the terminal have already been selected on the western shore of the Kola Bay," the governor said.

He expressed hope that at the beginning of 2023, Russia and Belarus will approve the financial model of the project.

“I can say that, according to the optimistic forecast, the design of the terminal should begin in 2023, and its construction could begin in 2024,” Chibis said.

He noted that cooperation with Belarus affects various areas. Thus, the Murmansk Region purchases trolleybuses, buses and municipal equipment from Belarus. One of the Russian airlines is considering the possibility of resuming a direct flight from Murmansk to Minsk.

Cooperation has also been established in the mining sector.

"An agreement with BelAZ on the creation of a repair and service center has already been reached, this is really important and relevant. In addition, a BelAZ laboratory will be opened in the Apatity branch of the Murmansk Arctic State University in order to train specialists in the management and repair of this equipment on site - in our mining cluster," Chibis specified.

According to him, BelAZ is developing mining equipment “specifically in response to the requests of our industrialists.”

The head of the region expressed the opinion that construction could become another area of ​​cooperation.

As reported, since February of this year, Belarus has been unable to export potassium chloride via the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda. In addition, there are sectoral EU sanctions against Belarusian potash fertilizers, as well as prohibitive EU and US sanctions against Belaruskali and its trader BKK. Before the sanctions were imposed, 10-11 million tons of potassium chloride were exported annually via Klaipeda.

As reported, on September 8, a meeting took place between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and the Governor of the Murmansk Region, at which a decision was made to reorient part of the Belarusian cargo to the Murmansk Region.

Chibis reported that a decision had been made to build a new mineral fertilizer terminal on the western shore of the Kola Bay for handling Belarusian export cargo. The terminal's capacity could be 5-7 million tons per year. The project is being developed jointly with Belaruskali.

At the same time, JSC Murmansk Sea Fishing Port (MSFP) has been accepting cargo from Belarus since April 2022 - feed for aquaculture farms produced by the Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation. The share of Belarusian cargo in the Murmansk Fishing Port has already reached 17% in the structure of the total transshipment of MSFP - 39 thousand tons out of 228.2 thousand tons of cargo for April-November.

/According to information from Interfax-Russia/ 

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