Russia Scraps North Siberian Railway Project Due To Lack Of Funds

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, according to Ukrinform.

The project was part of the development strategies for Siberia and the Far East. Its cost exceeded 50 trillion rubles, which was unaffordable for a budget depleted by war and sanctions. The work was repeatedly postponed and eventually halted.

According to intelligence reports, the plan to connect the Trans-Siberian Railway with Arctic routes failed due to difficult geological conditions and the need to build tunnels on the border with China.

Russian Railways (RZD) proved unable to finance the project. It is currently under European Union sanctions, and its investments for next year amount to only about 1 trillion rubles. China also refused to cover the costs.

At the same time, the Northern Latitudinal Railway in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, which was supposed to transport almost 24 million tons of cargo annually, has also been frozen. Its cost was estimated at 730 billion rubles, but there are no funds in the Russian budget.

“Thus, the eastern direction, which is critical for access to Asian markets, remains without infrastructure, and the Russian Federation's resources are directed not toward development but toward financing the war,” the intelligence report states.

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As reported by Ukrinform, on November 13, an explosion occurred near Sosnovka in the Khabarovsk region of the Russian Federation, blocking the movement of cargo along the Trans-Siberian Railway, a key railway artery used by the aggressor country to supply weapons and ammunition, including those obtained from the territory of the DPRK.

Illustrative photo: unsplash

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