The VEB.RF State Development Corporation set aside about 550 million rubles to build the Lavna coal transshipment facility at the Port of Murmansk. This funding will finance construction, equipment installation and startup operations. The project is to receive 4 billion rubles under a subsidized funding mechanism.

The facility is scheduled to open in December this year. VEB.RF financing will provide uninterrupted construction operations.

“When it opens, the Lavna facility will help open up new markets in the Asia Pacific countries for Russian exporters. Lavna will help accomplish a strategic objective to reorient cargo traffic through Russian seaports. The coal terminal project will provide the regional budget with additional tax revenue and will create over 500 jobs, primarily for residents in the Murmansk Region,” VEB.RF Chairman Igor Shuvalov said.

They are building this facility on instruction from the President of Russia under a project to ensure the comprehensive development of the Murmansk transit hub. This project will increase thermal coal exports allowing Russia to enter new markets.

The facility is 61 percent complete. The access dam’s slope has been reinforced, and 82 percent of the piers’ piles have been installed. Workers have started assembling ship-loading machinery. Work is underway to complete the main infrastructure of the coal transshipment facility, and specialists have started assembling the large technical equipment. In all, the project involves 1,434 workers and 183 pieces of construction equipment.