Over 30 priority projects to be included in Kola Backbone Zone – Murmansk Region governor
© RIA Novosti. Aleksey Danichev

Over 30 priority projects to be included in Kola Backbone Zone – Murmansk Region governor

Over 30 priority investment projects have been selected by the project office to be included in Russia's Kola Backbone Zone in the Arctic, among them the Murmansk Transport Hub project, Murmansk Region Governor Marina Kovtun announced at a plenary meeting of the 5th Murmansk International Business Week.

"The Murmansk Transport Hub project will be the anchor project of the Kola Backbone Zone, and combined with the renovation of airports and roads, service maintenance of ships and modernization of the port infrastructure, it will be the largest logistics center in the Arctic," RIA Novosti quoted Kovtun as saying.

She also said that the priority projects include the establishment of specialized shipyards to build Novatek large-capacity sea facilities and the construction of a coastal support base for Rosneft shelf projects. Given the resource potential of the Murmansk Region, it has its own projects to develop the largest mining companies of the region, as well as projects that provide reliable electricity supply for industrial facilities.

The governor noted the importance of giving Arctic regions the right to select priority projects and form and manage backbone zones and reflect it in the draft federal law On the Development of the Russian Federation's Arctic Zone.

According to the agency, the Kola Backbone Zone is a pilot project where the areal development principle will be tested. All projects included in the zone and aimed at the development of industry, transport, fisheries and the creation of social infrastructure will become the foundation for the continued development of the Murmansk Region as a pilot region to create backbone development zones in the Arctic.