NOVOSIBIRSK, September 17. /TASS/. The creation, first of all, of sea and then of river ports is a priority for the Arctic's development program, and the Ministry for Development of the Far East and the Arctic is working on it, Deputy Minister Gadzhimagomed Guseynov told TASS.

In the past summer, the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) agreed with Rosatom to create hubs on the Arctic and northern rivers - the Ob, the Irtysh, the Lena and the Yenisei to use them effectively in cargo shipments. In response to a request from TASS, the agency said it had been supervising organization of working groups with representatives of involved regions.

"As for the Northern Sea Route, the priority is to create marine hubs at first, and then river hubs," the deputy minister said. "We have been working on this issue. First of all, it is the coastal infrastructures to access the Northern Sea Route."

The infrastructures will be developed throughout the Northern Sea Route, including near Pevek, he continued. The ministry also eyes the construction of new ports, in particular, in the Tiksi area. "Tiksi is not a deep-water port, so we now consider a project to build a new port nearby. Yakutia's authorities insist the region needs a port, including for Northern Supplies," he added.

Earlier, Tiksi was put on the list of backbone settlements in the Russian Federation's Arctic Zone. The list includes cities and small towns that are of strategic importance to the country. Tiksi is Russia's northernmost seaport. The Tiksi-Naiba agglomeration master plan has been developed, like a long-term plan for the agglomeration's integrated socio-economic development - it consists of 36 events with investments estimated at 282 billion rubles ($3 billion).