Entrance route: Russia creates a transport corridor with China along the Lena River

Russia has begun the formation of the Mohe–Naiba transport route, which will connect the ports of the Arctic Ocean and China. This was stated at a meeting in Yakutsk by Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President and head of the Maritime Board. According to him, large infrastructure companies will be involved in the project. The Lena River will be the basis of the route. For the development of navigation on it, it is necessary to upgrade the river fleet. The volume of cargo transportation along this corridor may amount to about 20 million tons, said the head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev. Experts believe that the corridor will increase Russia's geopolitical and economic importance in international trade.

Mohe–Naiba Corridor Project

Against the background of increased Western sanctions and attempts to interfere with Russian trade in the Black and Baltic Seas, one of Russia's main tasks has become the formation of alternative routes. The projects of the North–South corridors and the Transarctic Route have become relevant again. One of the proposed routes should pass through the territory of Yakutia, the largest region in the world.

Russia has begun work on the formation of the Mohe–Naiba international transport corridor, which in the future will be able to ensure the loading of the Transarctic transport corridor, said Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Maritime Board, at a meeting in Yakutsk.

— Today, there are broad prospects for the development of the Lena basin. The Lena River can be not just a regional artery, but a logistics route of national and international importance," Patrushev emphasized.

According to the plan, a deep-water port will be built on the shore of the Laptev Sea in the village of Naiba. Not far from it is the city of Tiksi with its port, whose cargo turnover increased almost 17 times from 2009 to 2022. However, its depth is about 5 m, while the water area at Naiba reaches 14 m in depth. Now the settlements will develop as a single agglomeration, and the first stage of the construction of the seaport in Naiba should be completed by 2030.

The new infrastructure hub is planned to be connected to the Chinese city of Mohe on the Amur River with the help of railways and highways. The head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, said that cargo traffic on the Mohe–Naiba route could reach up to 20 million tons per year. The main advantage of the corridor is its length: 4 thousand km, which is two times less than the section of the route from Tiksi to Vladivostok by sea.

— To implement this project, it is necessary to create a seamless transport system — a single complex, including port terminals, shipping infrastructure, service centers and modern logistics hubs connected to railway and automobile routes. This is a large—scale task that requires a significant amount of financial resources," said the head of the Russian Maritime Board.

The issue of investments remains extremely important, as the project is planned to be developed in difficult climatic and economic conditions. Aisen Nikolaev said earlier that it is planned to allocate 4.98 billion rubles from the federal budget for the first stage of construction of the port in Naiba.

Nikolai Patrushev proposed using various forms of public-private partnership and stock market instruments to develop the transport infrastructure of the Lena Basin, and attracting the largest infrastructure companies with the appropriate financial resources and experience in implementing large projects.

In the context of conflict with the collective West and a strategic turn to the East, Siberia is gaining key importance, Vladimir Shapovalov, Deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State University, told Izvestia.

"This is Russia's resource base, which will ensure the very turn to the East, since it is the resources of Siberia that allow Russia to develop beneficial relations with the Far Eastern countries," the expert emphasized.

Shapovalov noted that transport routes are currently being developed that will connect the Siberian regions with China and Mongolia. In addition to Mohe–Naib, this is the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline, the memorandum on the construction of which was signed in September.

Development of river navigation in Russia

The second important topic of the meeting in Yakutia was the issue of river transportation. For the republic, this is a vital way of transporting goods. Nikolai Patrushev stated that there are a number of problems: the deterioration of the infrastructure of river ports and berths at individual facilities reaches 80%, in some cases unloading is carried out on an unequipped shore.

—The lack of a sufficient number of dredgers and the inability to perform dredging operations in the required volume do not allow for the required depths and the use of large-capacity river—sea vessels, which limits the capacity of the waterways of the Lena basin, leads to an increase in the cost of northern imports and hinders the economic development of the region," Patrushev drew attention.

But the most acute problem is the unsatisfactory condition of the fleet, a significant part of which is outdated. More than half of the river vessels have exceeded their critical service life. The rate of decommissioning of the fleet is four and a half times faster than the rate of its replenishment. The region needs to upgrade almost 300 vessels.

This is what the Zhatai shipyard is for, the first production line of which was put into operation in April 2025. According to Izvestia, a low-tonnage ferry for agricultural needs is currently under construction there. The shipyard has been equipped with the most modern equipment: CNC plasma and gas cutting machines, bending presses, modern milling, drilling and lathes.

The design capacity of the Zhatai plant is 10 units of river-sea class vessels per year. Moreover, these include ice-class vessels, which means that those launched here can also be used on the Northern Sea Route.

However, first the new shipyard must be integrated into the system of cooperative relations of the shipbuilding industry and secured with orders for the construction of new vessels. Right at the meeting, Nikolai Patrushev asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia and the Ministry of Transport of Russia to assist in including the shipyard in existing ship production programs and to work out the issue of providing the necessary state support.

However, discussions on future contracts began during the visit to the plant. The Zhatai shipyard cooperates with the Onega and Baltic plants, Kaliningrad shipyards and the Ak Bars plant in Tatarstan may become a new partner.