MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. The cargo turnover along the Northern Sea Route may gain 11% this year and reach 40 mln metric tons, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Novak told reporters.

"We expect it will be possible to achieve the level of about 40 mln metric tons in 2024. The transit will probably be slightly higher than in the last year: it was 2.15 mln metric tons last year; it will be about 2.5-3 mln metric tons this year," Novak said.

Hydrocarbons - oil and gas transportation from Arctic projects - constitute the lion’s share of traffic, the deputy prime minister said.

"If speaking about other products making up a sufficient volume, these are largely products of Norilsk Nickel and transit of various other cargoes via the Northern Sea Route from Murmansk," he added.