Russia is trying to revive an old idea, known since Soviet era, about the opening of the regular navigation along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) to Asia-Pacific region, instead of the usual southern shipping lane via the Suez Canal. First of all, the idea is interesting for the Russian gas companies. Thus, Novatek has already shipped on the NSR 70,000 tons of gas condensate to the port of destination Ningbo (China).