On June 7, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Alexey Chekunkov, General Director of the Rosatom State Corporation Alexey Likhachev, Governor - Chairman of the Government of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Vladislav Kuznetsov signed an agreement on cooperation within the framework of a pilot project to launch the work of a single maritime northern delivery operator. The main goal of the document is to develop a mechanism for uninterrupted and cost-effective delivery of goods to the “northern delivery” territory. In accordance with the Federal Law “On Northern Delivery”, the operator will be required to carry out regular cabotage transportation of essential cargo between seaports at preferential rates. The list of such cargo was approved by Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 2, 2023 N 3462-r. The route and schedule of voyage will be approved by the federal coordinator of northern delivery (Ministry of Eastern Development of Russia) based on the operator’s proposals. As Alexey Chekunkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and Arctic, noted at the signing: “Northern delivery is, first of all, complex, multi-stage logistics, associated with the difficulties of ice conditions. The main volumes of vital cargo are delivered by water transport, while the possibility of their delivery to certain areas exists only for a few weeks a year. In order to ensure uninterrupted supply, on behalf of the President, the law on northern delivery includes provisions for the launch of a single maritime operator for northern delivery from January 1, 2026. The implementation of a pilot project in Chukotka in 2025, as the region most dependent on tight navigation deadlines, will ensure the most precise adjustment of the operation of this system.”
