Belkomur project requires adjustment – Marina Kovtun
The present calculations and the economic evaluation of the Belkomur project should be adjusted in view of transport routes entering Murmansk direction, said Marina Kovtun, Governor of the Murmansk region, at the meeting dedicated to the project development issues held in Moscow on January 22, 2013.
Marina Kovtun underlined that the regional government supports implementation of the Belkomur project with due account for the development of Russia’s northern ports – Murmansk and Arkhangelsk.
“The project implementation will contribute to overcoming infrastructure limits for the development of vast northern territories of the Russian Federation and some adjacent regions,” said the region’s head.
The Belkomur project is included into Russia’s Transport Strategy through 2030 and the Strategy for the development of the North West federal district. It implies the construction of a 1,155-km long trunk railway Arkhangelsk– Syktyvkar-Perm linking Urals with ice-free ports of Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and the North Europe. In the future the new line will ensure the shortest way to the North Europe, Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia providing adequate conditions for cargo transit via Russia.
The line will include 715 kilometers of newly built railway with the reconstructed and reinforced railway accounting for the rest of the line. Belkomur consists of 2 sectors: the northern one across the Arkhangelsk region and Komi, and the southern one – from Syktyvkar across Komi and Perm region.
The project is being implemented by JSC Interregional Company Belkomur encorporated by the governments of the Republic of Komi, Arkhangelsk and Perm regions and the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, RF Transport Ministry recommended that the project should be specifically focused on the Murmansk region.
With lucky combination of circumstances the railway will be built by 2018.
