Russia may build icebreaker Lider using public-private partnership concept
© RIA Novisti. Aleksey Danichev

Russia may build icebreaker Lider using public-private partnership concept

Construction of the Project 10510 icebreaker Lider may be financed using the public-private partnership concept, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said at a meeting of the State Commission for Arctic Development during the 7th Arctic: Today and the Future International Forum.

"This is now included in the state program's analytical section, but possible funding algorithms, including those under the public-private partnership concept, are being actively discussed," Rogozin said.

Construction funding expenses might be listed in the state program for Arctic development, he added.

"I will not anticipate events, but I believe that the state program will soon stipulate funding for the highly important icebreaker Lider construction project," Rogozin noted.

Rogozin believes that Russia needs at least three icebreakers, rather than one, for ensuring sustained navigation in the eastern section of the Northern Sea Route. "We would prove unable to maintain uninterrupted navigation along the eastern route without at least three Lider-class icebreakers, rather than one. And this might jeopardize all our plans to produce hydrocarbons and to mine other resources in the Arctic zone," Rogozin said.

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