Northern Sea Route risks never opening
On the incredible prospects of the Russian Arctic and the possibility of turning the Northern Sea Route into an alternative to the Suez Canal we told earlier. The NSR is significantly shorter than the traditional southern sea route through the Suez.
The northern ice is melting faster, the navigation time is increasing. More and more professional freight forwarders are interested in Arctic transit from Asia to Europe and vice versa. Rosneft is building a shipyard in Primorye, on which it will produce ice-class vessels for its own needs. NOVATEK is exploring the possibility of building icebreakers powered by liquefied natural gas, about which we also told earlier.
It would seem that there is interest in Russia in unlocking the potential of the Far North. But it’s not so simple. We have already noted that the NSR frankly loses to Suez in the absence of the necessary infrastructure. State revenue may come precisely from the use by transit ships of Russian ports. Otherwise, only the icebreaking assistance service will remain on the budget. Huge investments are needed in the infrastructure of the Arctic: to develop northern ports, a road network and warehouses. Without this, Suez does not have to rely on the transformation of the NSR into a real competitor.
And what do we see? The Cabinet of Ministers worked out the budget for the next three years. It paid 40 billion rubles to the Northern Sea Route. The amount seems to be considerable, but the devil is always in the details.
At first, most of the funds in the next two years will go to the construction of two new nuclear icebreakers - this is 9 and 14,5 billion rubles. In itself, the development of the Russian icebreaking fleet can only be greeted. But the problem is that “pennies” will remain on the development of the infrastructure of the NSR ports: next year - only 611 million rubles, in 2020 - 1 billion 237 million. Experts explain:
One gets the impression that budgetary funds are invested primarily in the possibility of further ensuring the ice piping of tankers with liquefied natural gas.
Secondly, it is curious how the ministers intend to spend 16 billion rubles earmarked for socialeconomic Arctic development. For example, 7,5 billion rubles from them will be spent on the creation of a research self-propelled platform called the North Pole. Again, scientific projects can only be welcomed, but, in theory, they should go as a separate line, and not substitute for socio-economic development, taking away half of the budget. The “seriousness” of the government’s intentions in the development of the Arctic zone is evidenced by the fact that so far there is not even a corresponding law.
ThirdlyThe development of the port infrastructure of the Far North has also been ignored in a subprogram called Development of the Northern Sea Route and Ensuring Navigation in the Arctic. It focuses only on the needs of the fleet and problems with sunken objects carrying nuclear fuel.
Finally, the hit amountswhich the Cabinet of Ministers is ready to allocate for the creation of equipment designed for the needs of industrial and oil and gas engineering with a view to developing the Arctic shelf. These are “generous” 150 million rubles.
Based on these figures, the development of the Northern Sea Route as an alternative to the Suez transport artery in reality is not the goal of the government. In fact, all his efforts in the north indicate attempts to meet the needs of hydrocarbon producers and exporters.
The northern ice is melting faster, the navigation time is increasing. More and more professional freight forwarders are interested in Arctic transit from Asia to Europe and vice versa. Rosneft is building a shipyard in Primorye, on which it will produce ice-class vessels for its own needs. NOVATEK is exploring the possibility of building icebreakers powered by liquefied natural gas, about which we also told earlier.
It would seem that there is interest in Russia in unlocking the potential of the Far North. But it’s not so simple. We have already noted that the NSR frankly loses to Suez in the absence of the necessary infrastructure. State revenue may come precisely from the use by transit ships of Russian ports. Otherwise, only the icebreaking assistance service will remain on the budget. Huge investments are needed in the infrastructure of the Arctic: to develop northern ports, a road network and warehouses. Without this, Suez does not have to rely on the transformation of the NSR into a real competitor.
And what do we see? The Cabinet of Ministers worked out the budget for the next three years. It paid 40 billion rubles to the Northern Sea Route. The amount seems to be considerable, but the devil is always in the details.
At first, most of the funds in the next two years will go to the construction of two new nuclear icebreakers - this is 9 and 14,5 billion rubles. In itself, the development of the Russian icebreaking fleet can only be greeted. But the problem is that “pennies” will remain on the development of the infrastructure of the NSR ports: next year - only 611 million rubles, in 2020 - 1 billion 237 million. Experts explain:
If the figure of 1 billion 848 million for the development of port infrastructure, which the government is going to spend until 2020, is correct, then we can say that all the calls of the president to make the Northern Sea Route a global transport strategy will remain calls
One gets the impression that budgetary funds are invested primarily in the possibility of further ensuring the ice piping of tankers with liquefied natural gas.
Secondly, it is curious how the ministers intend to spend 16 billion rubles earmarked for socialeconomic Arctic development. For example, 7,5 billion rubles from them will be spent on the creation of a research self-propelled platform called the North Pole. Again, scientific projects can only be welcomed, but, in theory, they should go as a separate line, and not substitute for socio-economic development, taking away half of the budget. The “seriousness” of the government’s intentions in the development of the Arctic zone is evidenced by the fact that so far there is not even a corresponding law.
ThirdlyThe development of the port infrastructure of the Far North has also been ignored in a subprogram called Development of the Northern Sea Route and Ensuring Navigation in the Arctic. It focuses only on the needs of the fleet and problems with sunken objects carrying nuclear fuel.
Finally, the hit amountswhich the Cabinet of Ministers is ready to allocate for the creation of equipment designed for the needs of industrial and oil and gas engineering with a view to developing the Arctic shelf. These are “generous” 150 million rubles.
Based on these figures, the development of the Northern Sea Route as an alternative to the Suez transport artery in reality is not the goal of the government. In fact, all his efforts in the north indicate attempts to meet the needs of hydrocarbon producers and exporters.
Information