VALAAM ISLAND /Karelia/, October 2. /TASS/. Rosatom, a state-run nuclear corporation, hopes the government may issue an order on construction of the Lider nuclear-powered icebreaker before the yearend, the corporation’s Deputy Director General Vyacheslav Ruksha said on Tuesday.

"We hope before the yearend the government will publish a decision on construction of the first Lider-class icebreaker," he told the Arctic Council’s eighth international meeting. Rosatom manages development of the Northern Sea Route, including the fleet of nuclear icebreakers.

The 120 MW icebreaker Lider is expected to become the world’s first vessel to lead ships along the Northern Sea Route all year round through ice up to four meters thick. Rosatom’s chief earlier told TASS the civilian nuclear power corporation estimated the construction of the first next-generation nuclear-powered icebreaker Lider at 120 billion rubles ($1.8 billion) in prices of 2019. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said the cost may be maximum 127.5 billion rubles ($1.95 billion). The federal budget will cover the construction expenses.

According to the draft budget for 2020 and for 2021-2022, budget investments in the project in 2020-2022 may exceed 60 billion rubles ($920 million). In 2020, the investments will make 24.733 billion rubles ($379 million), in 2021 - 21.008 billion rubles ($322 million), and in 2022 - 14.787 billion rubles ($227 million).

A regular, eighth, international meeting of high representatives of member states and observer nations is held aboard a ship voyaging from St. Petersburg to the Island of Valaam and back to St. Petersburg.

The meeting features the Arctic Council members - Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Norway, the US, Finland, and Sweden. Other participating countries are China, India, Italy, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, France and Japan.

The Arctic Council was set up in 1996 at Finland’s initiative. As its initial main goal, the Arctic Council sought to preserve the unique nature of the northern Polar region.