The meeting introduced information on the comprehensive plan for the development of the Arkhangelsk transport hub and a project for the construction of a deep-water area at the Arkhangelsk seaport.

The deep-water area of the Arkhangelsk seaport with a year-round navigation capacity is to become a key element of the Arkhangelsk Arctic development support zone and the North Sea Route infrastructure. The project was conceived in a bid to meet the objectives set by the Decree of the President of Russia 'On national goals and strategic objectives of the Russian Federation development until 2024.' The document assumes an increased capacity of North Sea Route seaports and cargo traffic along the NSR growing to 150 million tonnes by 2030.

The total yearly design capacity of the deep-water port is 37.9 million tonnes. The implementation of the project requires building a 70-km railway and a 50-km motorway. The planned capital investment for the project totals at over RUB 150 billion. Its implementation will create 2,800 new jobs in the region. The construction of a new deep-water port area is included in the Strategy for the Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and Ensuring National Security until 2035.

'Amid the latest economic situation, the importance of the Arkhangelsk seaport has increased greatly. The deep-water area of the port should become a key element in the infrastructure of the North Sea Route, whose development is a strategic task set by the President,' Aleksandr Tsybulskiy, Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region, stated during the meeting.

Special attention was paid to the creation of a new ship repair facility in Arkhangelsk. The fleet of shipping companies making regular port calls or carrying out work in the Arkhangelsk Region exceeds 260 vessels. These include river/sea class vessels, icebreakers, as well as fishing vessels.

Ship repair facilities are numerous in the Arkhangelsk Region. Enterprises with such competencies include the Krasnaya Kuznitsa plant, the Arkhangelsk Trawl Fleet maintenance base, Arkhangelsk Fleet Maintenance Base JSC, Optimist Group, and the Layskiy Dok ship repair plant. There are over 50 small and medium-sized companies in the region engaged in ship repair, carrying out related works, as well as producing and supplying spare parts and components for ship repair. Over 11,000 people are employed in the ship repair industry today.

At the same time, dock capacity must be increased in order to further expand the ship repair options in the region. Shipowners' forecasts corroborate the relevance of this issue. Arctic fleet's demand for dock repairs in Arkhangelsk will grow by 2.5 times in the coming years. This will require the purchase of at least one new dock with a capacity of 9,000 tonnes. The meeting participants discussed options for financing the construction of new docks with state support.

'The dynamics of the economic development in the Arkhangelsk Region is tied to the success of industrial and infrastructure projects aimed at leveraging the region's natural competitive advantages. They stem from both its unique location and the accumulated professional competencies in areas such as shipbuilding and ship repair. Amid pressure from sanctions imposed by adversary countries, the importance of the Arkhangelsk transport and logistics hub increases manifold. Its potential will contribute to the implementation of the North Sea Route development plan created by the Government. In a bid to get rid of the existing infrastructure restrictions, we will opt for the whole range of state support measures, including both direct budget investments and combined programmes based on the public-private partnership mechanism; the Arctic concession in particular,' Aleksey Chekunkov noted.