ST. PETERSBURG, December 23. /TASS/. The work of the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic's headquarters on the Northern Supplies under the new law on such shipments made it possible to almost completely eliminate the issue of problematic wagons and containers that deviated from the schedule or encountered other obstacles. The number of such problematic objects dropped from 1,500 to just a few, First Deputy Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Gadzhimagomed Guseynov said at the Arctic: Present and Future forum.

"The law on Northern Supplies came into force on April 1, and it lists territories and life support cargoes. <...> As a result of the work of the headquarters, established at the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic, featuring also federal authorities and regions, we have cut the number of simultaneously problematic wagons and containers from 1,580 units to two containers. We have eliminated risks related to delivering more than 7,500 containers and wagons. The plan for Northern Supplies in 2024 has been fulfilled by almost 100%, 99.8%, to be more exact," he said.

The new approach to Northern Supplies implies the creation in a federal information system to monitor the process, to address emerging logistics problems and to optimize shipments. Work on the system has begun, the deputy minister added.

The Ministry and other authorities have identified transport and logistics infrastructures of about 350 facilities, and now they are also working on a single maritime operator to use most effective logistics approaches. The deputy minister stressed successful experience of trade and logistics centers in the Arctic, where 10 facilities of the kind had been organized in Yakutia.

Mikhail Kuznetsov, Vostokgosplan's director, told TASS another 10-15 trade and logistics centers would be organized throughout the Arctic to ensure deliveries and good prices. These centers could be created in the Arctic within a year, he added.

About the forum

The forum was organized by the Association of Polar Explorers, with the support from the Federation Council, the State Duma, the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic, the Foreign Ministry, and other ministries and authorities. TASS was the event's general information partner.