MURMANSK, February 27. /TASS/. The Murmansk Region can serve year-round shipment of Belarusian cargo to international markets via the ice-free Murmansk port and the regional logistics complex, the region's ministry for development of the Arctic and the economy told TASS after a working visit of the Republic of Belarus' delegation to Murmansk.
In September, 2022, at a meeting with the Murmansk Region's delegation in Minsk, Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko stressed - given the current sanctions, it is a strategic task to redirect a certain part of the Belarusian export, first of all potash fertilizers, to ports in the Murmansk Region, with further shipments to the Far East, China, and India along the Northern Sea Route. In February, the Belarusian president announced the intention to build a port in Murmansk.
"The Murmansk Region's transport and logistics potential is able to satisfy the Republic of Belarus' strategic interest to have reliable year-round transport routes to ship its products to international markets," the ministry said.
A group of experts, representing the Republic of Belarus' Ministry of Transport and Communications, worked in Murmansk for three days. The specialists visited a few terminals at the Murmansk port, and analyzed the locations which could be used for the new port infrastructures. The delegation had a few meetings to discuss the specific navigation in waters of the year-round ice-free Murmansk port. The Belarusian representatives also learned how Belarusian goods and cargo may be shipped along the regional railway, which will undergo an upgrade under the project to develop the Murmansk transport hub.
"The Murmansk port, clearly, has a huge potential for further development, and the Republic of Belarus has big intentions to cooperate with the Murmansk Region," the ministry quoted the Republic of Belarus' Minister of Transport and Communications Natalya Alexandrovich as saying. "We have received a big amount of information for further analysis, and we have also planned further actions to implement joint projects."
Murmansk Region's logistics potential
The Murmansk Region's authorities say the ice-free port of Murmansk is among Russia's leading ports which increase transshipment most dynamically. It has direct access to the World Ocean's neutral waters without passing third countries' straits. In February, RZD's CEO Oleg Belozerov predicted the northbound cargo handling would double by the end of 2024 after the Lavna port is commissioned. This port is the anchor project of the Murmansk Transport Hub, which provides for the creation of transport infrastructures on the Kola Peninsula's western shore, including coal and oil terminals, and railway infrastructures. The project's ultimate goal is a year-round deep-sea hub - a cargo handling center that will be integrated into the international North-South transport corridor.