Murmansk transport hub development project is important for strengthening Russia’s positions – Sergei Naryshkin
© RIA Novosti. Sergey Eshenko

Murmansk transport hub development project is important for strengthening Russia’s positions – Sergei Naryshkin

Speaker of the State Duma Sergei Naryshkin said that the Murmansk transport hub development project is important for strengthening Russia's positions as a maritime power, RIA Novosti reports.

"The implementation of this project will have an impact on the future of Murmansk, the Murmansk Region and the Northwestern Region as a whole. Moreover, it will strengthen Russia's positions as a maritime power," Sergei Naryshkin said, discussing the project with the regional administration and representatives of the Ministry of Transport.

He said that the Murmansk hub is a facility for transporting oil and gas and a key station for developing new market outlets and organizing large-scale freight traffic. The Northern Fleet is based here, which is where the Northern Sea Route begins, and there are also lucrative Arctic shelf deposits located nearby.

The Murmansk transport hub is the largest such facility on the Russian northern coast, and the Murmansk Port is Russia's northernmost ice-free port. The integrated development project for the hub consists of creating transport infrastructure on the west coast of the Kola Bay, including construction of a coal and oil terminal, railroad infrastructure development including construction of the Vykhodnoy — Lavna branch line, and also modernization of the coal terminal and construction of a container terminal on the east coast of the Kola Bay. The Murmansk transport hub development project is being implemented as a public-private partnership.