By Tass
Copyright tass
VLADIVOSTOK, September 17. /TASS/. A unified maritime operator will ensure transparent tariffs for Northern Supplies through long-term planning and state regulation, and, in the future – due to its own fleet, Rosatom’s envoy on the Arctic, deputy chairman of the State Commission for the Arctic Development, Vladimir Panov, told the Eastern Economic Forum.
The creation of a unified maritime operator complies with a federal law, which came into force on April 1, 2024. The federal coordinator is the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic. The law’s main purpose is to ensure uninterrupted supplies of life support goods to the Far North – fuel, food, building materials and others.
“Presently, the Northern Supplies project looks rather like a market story: a private shipping company provides its vessel for freight and, strictly speaking, is engaged in business. However, for the region, the Northern Supplies program is not a business, it’s a state task. Therefore, the Unified Maritime Operator faces the key task of a balance between a business process and guaranteed, absolutely transparent, clear and controlled economy. Therefore, the operator’s tariffs are subject to state regulation,” the expert said.
Rosatom and the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic have assessed the ship chartering cost’s rise. “Over the recent two years, the cost to ship fuels and lubricants has been growing at a rate of 50%,” he said.
Insufficient fleet and work with regions
At the same time, the average age of vessels is 26 years, he continued. “The average age of riverboats is 45 years. And, of course, the biggest concern now is the dynamics of the number of those vessels, the pace of construction and the rate of disposal. The delta is very big. There is an obvious shortage in the market, especially in the tanker fleet,” he stressed.
The unified maritime operator’s task is to make its own fleet. “We have agreed with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and they support us in this. Design of an Arctic-class supply vessel is underway now,” Rosatom’s envoy said.
In March, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin appointed Rosatom Arctic the Unified Maritime Operator for Northern Supplies from January 1, 2026. However, Rosatom Arctic and the Chukotka Autonomous District in the current year have been implementing a pilot project to ship goods to Chukotka.
The total volume of shipments using a unified maritime operator to 10 regions of the Far East is estimated at 1.5 million tons. “It is important to note that a region starts working with the Unified Maritime Operator only if this is its decision. It’s not an obligation, nor a monopoly, it’s just a decision. We have been working very actively with [Yakutia’s Governor] Aisen [Nikolayev] and his team to verify volume and economy,” he said.
About the forum
The 10th Eastern Economic Forum took place in Vladivostok from September 3 to 6 under the theme “The Far East: Cooperation for Peace and Prosperity.” The Roscongress Foundation was the event’s organizer, with TASS as its general information partner.
