The single merchant marine operator will facilitate transparent northern freight delivery rates and tariffs due go long-term planning and state regulation; administrative liability is stipulated for failure to ensure timely deliveries, according to participants in the Eastern Economic Forum 2025.

According to Deputy Chair of the State Commission for Arctic Development, Vladimir Panov, northern freight deliveries are a state objective, rather than a business project.

“The single merchant marine operator primarily aims to balance the business process with the guaranteed, completely transparent, easy-to-understand and controllable economy. The single merchant marine operator’s rates and tariffs are therefore subject to state regulation,” he noted.

There are also plans to monitor compliance with the Law on Northern Freight Deliveries by stipulating administrative liability for haulers. The State Duma Committee on the Development of the Far East and the Arctic is set to introduce the relevant amendments together with the Russian Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, Committee Chairman Nikolai Kharitonov noted.

“This is a vibrant law, and we will amend it accordingly together with the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, after assessing its practical enforcement. I am convinced that we will fulfill all our plans for upgrading the Law on Northern Freight Deliveries,” Kharitonov added.