Several main infrastructure projects of strategic importance for Russia are being successfully implemented in the Murmansk Region. This was emphasized by Governor Andrei Chibis during his report to President Vladimir Putin today. The meeting was held in videoconferencing mode.

The governor named the Murmansk transport hub as one of the first.

"Thank you very much for your support, thanks to your decisions on financing, last year we completed the construction of a new railway. It is almost 50 km to the western shore of the Kola Bay. In December 2023, at the congress of railway workers, you launched the work movement on this road. The construction of the new port "Lavna" is in the active stage. We are also starting the practical implementation of the project to build a multimodal port with Belarusian partners in accordance with your instructions," the governor listed. Andrei Chibis also invited the President to the launch of the new port "Lavna" in August this year.  

During the report, the governor asked the president to include in the national project "Transport" being formed for the period from 2025 to 2030 and the investment program being formed for the development of railways, measures to increase the carrying capacity of approaches to the port of Murmansk.  

"We have worked on this issue with the Ministry of Transport and the Government of Russia at your request. This is necessary because the current capacity of railways at the end of this year will be 45 million tons. And taking into account the projects that are in progress and the projects that we are launching, the carrying capacity that we need by 2030 is 110 million tons. We ask for your support so that this order is implemented, and we and the Government have already finalized all the necessary decisions to ensure long-term carrying capacity by rail to these strategic points," the head of the region noted.

Andrey Chibis thanked Vladimir Putin for his support and the adoption of a historic decision on gasification of the Murmansk region, as a result of which a main gas pipeline from Volkhov to Murmansk with a length of more than 1,300 km will be built. The governor noted that one of the important issues is setting the price per cubic meter of gas for consumers close to the average Russian level.

"We have an agreement, within the framework of which we are currently working out the gasification program in detail, we are also planning to fix this year which pipe goes where from the gas pipeline. But the main issue, which is currently being resolved, is the final price of gas, it is determined by the antimonopoly service. Here it is fundamentally important to directly fix it so that it is plus or minus the Russian average, then investors, including PhosAgro and EuroChem, will understand how to calculate investment projects for the construction of plants. And most importantly, we will understand how much heat will cost for the population in order to optimize the payments of our people. Because they hit the pocketbook hard, of course. Here I would also ask for your support," Andrei Chibis addressed the President.

Among the most important strategic projects, the head of the Murmansk region noted the development of lithium deposits.

"Geological exploration work has been completed at the lithium deposit, and based on its results, our country may enter the top three in terms of lithium reserves. The volume of reserves on the Kola Peninsula turned out to be even greater than expected. In order to implement this project, we need infrastructure: power grids, a road. We discussed this at a meeting with Yuri Petrovich Trutnev. The work is currently underway, this is another global growth point for us, for the entire country - strategically," the governor said.

Speaking about the details of the implementation of the joint project with Belarus, the governor noted that a number of issues have already been worked out. "After selecting and inspecting all the land plots, the territory has already been determined, colleagues have registered a legal entity in the Murmansk region, and we are already preparing for practical implementation. Next week, colleagues will be here again, we are discussing a whole set of nuances," Andrei Chibis said.

/ Ministry of Information Policy of the Murmansk Region / 

Photo: Press Service and Information Directorate of the President.