VLADIVOSTOK, September 7. /TASS/. The Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic drafted a bill on the Northern Supplies and sent it to respective authorities and to 25 Arctic regions for further discussions, First Deputy Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Gadzhimagomed Guseinov said during the Eastern Economic Forum.

Earlier, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to draft by March 2023 and to present to the State Duma a bill on a unified coordinator for the Northern Supplies. The government will also present suggestions on a unified marine operator for the Northern Supplies to use the icebreaker fleet along the Northern Sea Route. Besides, the president expects from the government suggestions on subsidies of loans borrowed for the Northern Supplies.

"First of all, the bill is ready, about a week ago we sent it out to all the executive authorities and to 25 regions," the first deputy minister said at the forum’s session on the Northern Supplies. "The work continues. Traditionally, we follow up the Northern Supplies as those are essential cargos. The total cargo is three million tonnes, and about 3 million people live in settlements with limited transport and supply options. Our approach is to eye the Northern Supplies not just as essential cargos, but as all cargos to settlements with limited supply options."

The ministry wants to have the cargo divided into three baskets: the first one - essentials, the second - cargo for implementation of state and municipal purposes and projects, and the third - other cargo in addition to the first and second baskets. "We are developing the Arctic, many deposits. These projects require investments and the understanding of how to bring in cargo to implement those projects," he added.

The bill’s novellas

The bill authors suggest using a unified platform to purchase big consignments of goods for the Northern Supplies, thus cutting the purchase time.

"We have been buying goods in compliance with the 44th federal law, where we post the demand on a platform and receive offers, make the choice, but using the new law we will not have to wait for offers and thus the terms are shorter. <…> Thus, we think we should have a platform, not for small orders, but to have it to serve the Northern Supplies, it would be a federal digital platform," the deputy minister said.

The new procedure introduces a general courier. The authors say that will be one or a few organizations, accredited by the state, which will guarantee deliveries from point A to point B. The courier will bear responsibility for the cargo at all the stages and will provide the cargo traffic information.

"Yet another novella is that following the president’s order we are making a single marine operator. It would be a state-run operator, which will serve deliveries in two basins: in the Northern Sea Route and in the Pacific basin. Another idea is to have the Russian Federation’s government approve a list of master transport and logistics infrastructures, necessary for the deliveries. We believe, this infrastructure must be financed and supported in compliance with approved norms," he continued.

Similar norms have been used for federal roads, he added. The ministry wants to apply alike norms to the entire infrastructures, which the government will approve as the master infrastructure.

Suggestions from regions

During the Eastern Economic Forum, representatives of the Arctic regions had an opportunity to discuss the bill. They have supported most provisions and made a few suggestions. Yakutia’s Governor Aisen Nikolayev stressed the bill must regulate conditions of winter roads (the roads, which can be used in winter seasons only), since presently requirements for such roads are not regulated by any act. According to the governor, if Yakutia every year had not made and served those roads, most Northern Supplies in the region would have been impossible.

The Chukotka Autonomous Region’s Governor Ilya Davidenko stressed all general cargo and products can be delivered to the region only by sea, and the delivery period is limited to 2-4 months.

"We are bringing goods either from Vladivostok or along the Northern Sea Route. <…> We are buying and bringing fuel in April, May and June - at that time it’s next to impossible to find winter fuel in the market. Oil processing companies stop for services (at that time of the year), and this kind of fuel is not to be found, thus we get into a tiny market, we buy the fuel there, but prices are hiking, and thus the purchase price we get is quite high. Then, comes the delivery - incentives apply to fuel deliveries by railways to Vladivostok, Nakhodka, but not by the sea transport. A similar situation is with supplies via Murmansk," the governor said.

He suggested expanding the incentives to marine deliveries and also to focus on centralized purchases of winter fuel to have much lower prices.

Eastern Economic Forum

Organized by the Roscongress Foundation, the Seventh Eastern Economic Forum will be running from September 5 to September 8 in Vladivostok. TASS is the event’s general information partner and its official photohost agency.

This year, the theme of the forum is: "On the Path to a Multipolar World."