MOSCOW, September 5, /TASS/. The import from China to the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District over eight months of the current year reached three billion dollars. It takes more than 75% of all the import to the Arctic region, press service of the local customs told reporters on Tuesday.
"The foreign trade turnover made $4 billion, where more than 97% is import," the press service said. "Most supplies to the District are from China - about $3 billion, which is 75.7% of the import. The second biggest importer in Indonesia, followed by Belgium."
Most shipments in the District are equipment, power machines and transport vehicles, the customs added.
The trade turnover in the District grew by 3.8 times year-on-year. "The number of foreign trade parties also grew by 50%, and the number of importing countries - by 44.4%," the press service said. "The growth is explained by the customs clearance operations at the sea and air border-crossing points in Sabetta, where the Yamal LNG plant is under construction."
TASS reported earlier, Yamal fixed in 2016 a jump in trade with China. The import grew by 19 times, and the trade turnover with that country exceeded $3.8 billion.
Yamal LNG is a large-scale project on creating a liquefied natural gas production facility with 16.5 million tonnes per year capacity. The project involves the creation of transport infrastructure, including a seaport and an airport near the Sabetta village (north-east of the Yamal Peninsula). The company’s shareholders are Russia’s gas company Novatek - 50.1%, France’s Total - 20%, China’s CNPC - 20% and the Silk Road Fund - 9.9%.
Earlier, Yamal LNG's head Evgeny Kot said the product's clients would be mostly countries of the Asia-Pacific region - 86% of all contracts.
Construction of the Sabetta sea port on the Kara Sea is over. Within the first quarter, the port registered 17 arrivals of foreign vessels along the Northern Sea Route. On March 28, the Sabetta sea port received the first ever ice-class gas tanker - The Christophe de Margerie, carrying a test consignment of LNG. It is the first of 15 gas tankers for the Yamal LNG project.
The Christophe de Margerie was built by the order of Sovcomflot to provide year-round transportation for LNG in the difficult ice conditions of the Kara Sea and Gulf of Ob (Yamal LNG project). The vessel was commissioned by Sovcomflot on 27 March 2017 following her successful ice trials in the Arctic Ocean.
According to a statement on the website of Sovcomflot, the LNG carrier was named after Christophe de Margerie, the former CEO of Total, who had played a key role in developing investment decisions and a technological basis for the Yamal LNG project. He had also made a major contribution to the development of Russo-French economic relations in general.
The Northern Sea Route is the main sea route in the Russian Arctic. The Russian Ministry of Transport forecasts cargo turnover along the Northern Sea Route by 2020 will grow tenfold to 65 million tons per year. The route crosses seas of the Arctic Ocean (Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukotka Seas) and partially the Pacific Ocean (the Bering Sea). The Northern Sea Route from the Kara Gate to the Providence Bay is about 5,600 km long. The distance between Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok along the Northern Sea Route is more than 14,000 km, while the distance vessels cover by the Suez Canal is more than 23,000 km. The navigation lasts for 2-4 months, but icebreakers extend this term.