Russia's River Transport Agency, Rosatom mull creating hubs on northern rivers - agency head

MOSCOW. July 17 (Interfax) - Russia's Federal Maritime and River Transport Agency (Rosmorrechflot) and state corporation Rosatom are exploring the possibility of creating hubs on the Ob, Irtysh, Lena and Yenisei rivers, agency head Andrei Tarasenko said at a meeting with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Wednesday.

"Cargo traffic on rivers is falling because there are no hubs and no stevedores to organize and accumulate cargo, provide a cargo base. Many companies have received licenses, they have deposits, but they don't have or have not yet worked out logistics. Therefore, we are in talks with Rosatom on the creation of designated hubs on such Arctic and northern rivers that will accumulate cargo [for shipment to the Northern Sea Route]," Tarasenko said.

They are also exploring the possibility of creating a multimodal hub on the Amur River, he said. Creating such hubs is a priority for the agency, he said.

Mishustin asked Tarasenko at the meeting to draw up a program for the agency's plans.

It was reported earlier that Rosmorrechflot plans to carry out river hub projects in Samara and Moscow regions, Perm Territory and Tatarstan. They will be financed with funds from various sources. The overall amount of investment is now being estimated.