Russia is proposing to impose new fees on maritime exports to raise over 200 billion rubles (equivalent to $2.35 billion) to finance the nuclear icebreakers necessary for expanding traffic on the Northern Sea Route.
Details of the New Fees
A draft government decree prepared by the Russian Ministry of Transport proposes fees of 20.07 rubles per ton of exported cargo transported by 27 Russian companies using ships registered under the Russian flag from the ports of this country. These fees will last for 10 years.
The revenue generated from these fees will primarily be used for the construction of the nuclear icebreakers of project 22220, namely "Leningrad" and "Stalingrad," without the need for direct funding from the public budget. Reports indicate that the estimated cost of constructing these two icebreakers and one related support vessel has increased from 143 billion rubles in 2022 to 225.6 billion rubles this year.
Impacts on Maritime Traffic and Energy Projects
The Ministry of Transport has warned that without an increase in icebreaker capacity, the volume of maritime cargo on the Northern Sea Route may decline, including shipments related to the "Novak" and "Rosneft" projects. Without these fees, the ministry estimates that the cost of icebreaker services may reach 52 million rubles per day, which is more than nine times the reasonable level that the ministry considers.
Through this plan, Moscow aims to achieve 70 million tons of cargo annually on the Northern Sea Route by the end of this decade, which is nearly double the current volume. This proposal effectively places part of the costs of Russia's ambitions in the Arctic directly on exporters and indicates that access to icebreakers, rather than melting sea ice, remains one of the main limitations to transforming the Northern Sea Route into a larger and permanent transportation corridor.
