Sergey Pylin, General Director of FSUE “Rosmorport”, took part in the ceremony marking the start of shipment of the first lot of coal from the Lavna transshipment complex on the western shore of the Kola Bay in the Murmansk Region.

President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin announced the start of the first shipment via videoconference, noting that the opening of the terminal would be a good contribution to increasing the capacity of Russia's Arctic ports and the development of the coal mining industry.

The event was attended by high-ranking representatives of federal and regional authorities, including Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Maksim Oreshkin, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Roman Starovoit, Governor of the Murmansk Region Andrey Chibis, as well as top management of transport industry companies: Evgeny Dietrich, General Director of State Transport Leasing Company (STLC) JSC, and Eduard Bezukladov, Captain of the seaport of Murmansk of Federal State Budgetary Institution “Western Arctic Maritime Ports Administration”.

Roman Starovoit emphasized that with the launch of Lavna, the Murmansk transportation hub would become one of the leading logistics hubs in Russia, and would also contribute to the development and support of cargo traffic of the Great Northern Sea Route.

The construction of the coal terminal with a capacity of 18 million tons per year, a special railway line and the development of the seaport water area are part of the project “Comprehensive Development of the Murmansk Transport Hub", which is being implemented in accordance with the State Program of the Russian Federation “Transport System Development”. STLC JSC is the infrastructural investor in the construction of the complex.

The Lavna complex is one of the key infrastructure facilities for the Murmansk Region and the Russian economy, an important Arctic transportation hub providing access to the Great Northern Sea Route. The launch of the terminal will facilitate the opening of new export destinations for Russian coal through unimpeded access to the neutral waters of the World Ocean.