With a berth for the future: large-scale port renovation will begin in Russia
A large-scale upgrade of the port infrastructure is being prepared in Russia, Izvestia found out. Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Magadan, Korsakov, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and others are expected to increase cargo traffic. This will expand trade with China, India and a number of other countries. Such a project was proposed to the agencies as part of the Strategy for the Development of the Northern Sea Route and the Transarctic Transport Corridor. A special program of VEB.RF can be created for it. How much the project will cost and where the money will come from is in the Izvestia article.
Which ports should be updated?
The authorities are preparing a large—scale upgrade of the port infrastructure - the ports of Magadan, Korsakov, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Anadyr, Kholmsk, Nevelsk, Provideniya, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, and Dixon are awaiting modernization and increased cargo traffic. The measure is specified in the draft Strategy for the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and the Transarctic Transport Corridor (TATC) until 2050, which was reviewed by Izvestia. A special VEB program may be created to finance such work.The Russian Federation, follows from the document. It was sent to relevant departments by the Governor of the Murmansk Region and Chairman of the State Council Commission on the Northern Sea Route and the Arctic, Andrey Chibis.
— The proposal of a massive renovation of ports as part of the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of the Northern Sea Route and the Transarctic Transport Corridor is a logical step that will continue the policy pursued by the authorities in recent years. Russia already has a group of documents that outline various tasks for the renewal of our maritime infrastructure and the development of the northern and eastern territories. Now, apparently, this process will be even bigger," Dmitry Tortev, a member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition, told Izvestia.
In August 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a comprehensive plan for the development of transport, energy, telecommunications, social and other infrastructure for the period up to 2036. This included the construction of 17 terminals in seaports. In addition, modernization plans are provided for in the Spatial Development Strategy, national development goals approved by the President, etc.
Russian strategic projects envisage the construction or reconstruction of 25 water transport infrastructure facilities between 2025 and 2036. In particular, three of them belong to the Arctic Basin, including two ports on the coast of the Northern Sea Route, and 12 more are terminal complexes in the Far Eastern Basin, experts from Vostokgosplan explained to Izvestia. In general, according to the accumulated final effect, by 2036, the port capacity (annual cargo handling volume) will increase by more than 166 million tons, the institution said.
According to Rosmorrechflot, as early as 2025, the total capacity of Russian seaports will grow by 2.3% to almost 1.4 billion tons, which is an increase of 31.4 million tons.
If an additional modernization program is created as part of the implementation of the Development Strategy of the NSR and TATK, the annual increase in capacity may be twice as much, Dmitry Tortev added. This will allow Russia to increase exports to Asia and expand trade with China, India and other partner countries, the expert said.
— Updating the infrastructure and the port fleet will primarily increase the capacity of ports and the number of vessels, and increase their efficiency. As a result, the logistics of cargo transportation within the country will improve, connectivity between different modes of transport will increase, and the competitiveness of Russian seaports will increase. This, in turn, will help attract additional cargo flows," said Dmitry Baranov, a leading expert at Finam Management Management Company.
The relevance of the measure under consideration for the northern territories and the development of the country as a whole is extremely high, since the NSR is no longer just a route for exporting hydrocarbons — a Transarctic transport corridor is being formed, a multimodal link between the Arctic and the East and inland river and railway arteries, said Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global. This provides the northern regions with an influx of investments, new jobs and a tax base, while businesses reduce their logistical shoulders both domestically and when exporting to Asia, he added.
— In 2024, record transit and the number of transit flights were recorded, which confirms: The demand for infrastructure is formed not only from within the country. Localization of projects by specific ports looks logical. Magadan, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Anadyr form the Far Eastern Arctic arc. Sabetta, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Dixon are critically important for Arctic mining clusters and service fleets. Vladivostok is needed as a link so that container logistics can connect shoulder to shoulder with the western section of the corridor," the expert noted.
Why the development of northern ports is of strategic importance
In August 2025, Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Maritime Board, stated that the expansion of the NSR's potential, the formation of the TATK and the development of the Arctic zone are considered as a strategic basis for Russia's further economic growth and strengthening its status as a leading maritime power.
Cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route has already updated the record in 2024, reaching 37.9 million tons. In September 2025, Alexey Chekunkov, Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, announced its expected growth to 100 million tons by 2030. In the baseline scenario of Rosatom, cargo traffic along the NSR may increase to 150 million tons by 2035, and up to 192 million tons in the positive scenario.
—This means that without an early upgrade of ports and the port fleet, bottlenecks will appear already at the stage of transition from tens to hundreds of millions of tons," said Vladimir Chernov.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Transport, and VEB.The Russian Federation, Rosatom, as well as to the regions with the largest ports.
Large-scale projects aimed at developing the port of Murmansk are being implemented in the region, the Ministry of Arctic Development and Economy of the Murmansk Region told Izvestia.
— The key project for the development of the port of Murmansk is the integrated development of the Murmansk transport hub. In 2023, the President of the Russian Federation opened a working movement within the framework of the project, in 2026, after the project was commissioned, the carrying capacity of the railway approaches to the port will amount to 45 million tons, including 18 million tons to the Western Shore of the Kola Bay. This project made it possible to create a railway infrastructure on the western shore of the Kola Bay and the possibility of developing the western shore appeared," the department noted.
The modernization program is long-term in nature, and its implementation has actually begun, said Arthur Leer, Vice President of the Association of Exporters and Importers, Managing Partner of Lex Alliance Law Firm. As an example, he cited the renovation of the Arkhangelsk port and the development of the port infrastructure of Murmansk. According to him, this shows that the movement in the right direction is already underway, and the development strategy of the NSR and TATK is becoming a tool for consolidating the results achieved.
The government's increased attention to the Arctic, in particular to the development of the region's port infrastructure, is quite natural, said Yuri Guskov, professor at the Department of Economics and Management at the Institute of Economics, Management and Law at Moscow State Pedagogical University. According to him, the global economy is facing serious challenges: resource depletion and limited traditional non-renewable sources of raw materials.
"Under these conditions, the leading players in the global market have high hopes for the Arctic Ocean and the mineral deposits found in this region," he said.
The problem that states and multinational corporations will have to solve is the direct extraction and subsequent transportation of minerals, the expert added. According to him, this cannot be done without a large—scale upgrade of the infrastructure, primarily the modernization of the terminals of existing seaports and a significant increase in their capacity.
What is the possible cost and sources of financing for the project?
Upgrading the equipment of one port can cost more than 1 trillion rubles, including dredging, terminal construction, installation of transshipment equipment and other tasks, Dmitry Tortev, a member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition, believes. Taking into account plans to renovate about ten such facilities, the costs may exceed 10 trillion rubles in the coming years, he added. At the same time, each ruble invested stimulates the development of related industries — energy, industry, construction and others, so long-term investments will be justified, the expert believes.
Financing of a large-scale project to upgrade the port infrastructure is possible from mixed sources, says Vladimir Chernov from Freedom Finance Global.
— VEB's contribution has already been announced today.The Russian Federation and its partners have over 2 trillion rubles for Transarctic Transport Corridor projects. In parallel, a new comprehensive infrastructure development plan is in effect until 2036, which includes budgetary and extra-budgetary sources through concession mechanisms and project financing. Leasing schemes and long-term money for anchor cargo owners are appropriate for the fleet. Corporate investors from oil and gas and the mining and metallurgical complex traditionally participate in northern projects, which reduces the burden on the budget," the analyst noted.
The volume of financing for the entire program in the next decade will amount to trillions of rubles, he added. According to Vladimir Chernov, in terms of the full implementation cycle, we can talk about several trillion by the mid-2030s.
Irina Mironova, Director of Federal Development Projects at the Skolkovo School of Management, agrees with this assessment.
— In order to achieve a real payback in some perspective, it is necessary to develop the international traffic flow. Its share is still low, although China and India are gradually joining the process, gently ignoring attempts to put pressure from the West. This is a huge potential for trade, technology exchange and cooperation," she said.
It's not easy to do that today.:European and Asian shipping companies are not as afraid of being trapped in the ice as they are of receiving secondary sanctions or being left without insurance, the expert added.
As Izvestia wrote, the authorities are preparing to create a national insurance company for Russian ships exporting raw materials. In 2022, Western countries introduced restrictions on insurance of domestic vessels carrying oil. G7 sanctions have banned Western insurers from providing such services to vessels that do not comply with the $60 per barrel price cap for raw materials from the Russian Federation, and in 2025, Western states lowered the price cap to $47.6. In May, the EU Council adopted the 17th package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, restrictive measures were primarily directed against the activities of the so-called shadow fleet, which, according to Brussels, is used to transport oil from Russia under the flags of various states.
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