A direct line from China to the Arctic

The document was signed by Aisen Nikolaev, Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia); Nikolai Zapryagaev, General Director of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV); Alexander Galushka, President of the Crystal of Growth Foundation and former Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East; Vasily Efimov, General Director of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Development Corporation; Sergei Yudin, General Director of VIS Group; Marat Tyakin, General Director of Taimyr Invest; and Vasily Shimokhin, General Director of the Railways of Yakutia joint-stock company.

As the KRDV statement puts it, the agreement “established the coordination of efforts to create transport and logistics infrastructure in Yakutia that will link the territory of China with Yakutia via the Amur Region.”
The project provides for a joint international border crossing with China, the construction of the deepwater port of Naiba on the Arctic Ocean coast, a new railway line from Nizhny Bestyakh to Naiba running some 1,300 km, and a trunk line from Nizhny Bestyakh to Magadan of around 1,670 km.

An agreement to begin the first phase of that trunk line — the 375 km Nizhny Bestyakh–Khandyga section — was also signed at EEF 2026. It was signed by Aisen Nikolaev, Vasily Shimokhin and Sergei Nosov, Governor of the Magadan Region.

In time, extending the project to Magadan will make it possible to remove the maritime leg of shipments from Vladivostok, shorten delivery times and cut logistics costs, the press service of the government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) reports.

The north–south Mohe–Naiba corridor is planned to be multimodal, combining rail, river, port and Arctic infrastructure to form a route linking the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and Southeast Asia with the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor. KRDV and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Development Corporation will handle the coordination of the parties and help shape the project concept. The two institutions will help select land plots, provide them with infrastructure, attract financing and secure state support measures.

“The volume of cargo that will be able to pass through the Mohe–Naiba corridor is put at 2 million tons a year. The route created will be the shortest way between the northeastern provinces of China and the Arctic coast. This will make it possible to lower the cost of the goods delivered, raise the pace of economic development in the Arctic and the Far East and strengthen the connectivity of a vast region. The key element of this system will be the deepwater seaport now under construction near the village of Naiba,” said Aisen Nikolaev, Head of Yakutia.

Nikolai Zapryagaev, General Director of KRDV, called the Mohe–Naiba corridor a project capable of fundamentally changing the transport geography of northeastern Russia. “The new corridor will link the largest markets of the Asia-Pacific region with Yakutia, the Magadan Region and the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor. We are talking about creating more than 2,900 km of new railway infrastructure, a deepwater port and a new border crossing with China. This is the infrastructure basis for developing deposits, launching new production, growing the cargo base and bringing Far Eastern products to international markets,” he said.

According to Alexander Galushka, the Crystal of Growth Foundation, together with the government of Yakutia, has already completed a preliminary feasibility study for the project. The work confirmed that it can be carried out without drawing on federal budget funds. An international consortium of investors is now being formed and mechanisms for long-term financing are being worked through. The Eastern Financial Center, which will connect international investors with infrastructure and industrial projects in the Russian Arctic, Siberia and the Far East, could play an important part in attracting capital, Alexander Galushka believes.

“The Russian Arctic is a strategic point of economic growth for Russia, and for us it is a point for attracting investment that matches the goals of the national projects and our business strategy. VIS Group has every competence needed to deliver an infrastructure project on this scale. We have built more than 40 facilities of various kinds in the regions of the Far North and the Far East. The holding is among the top three players in Russia’s public-private partnership market. We draw on a wide range of ways to attract non-budget investment — from project finance and our own equity to the issue of exchange-traded bonds. I am confident that, working with our partners, we will be able to accomplish the tasks set out in the agreement signed,” said Sergei Yudin, General Director of VIS Group.

KRDV notes that the project will improve transport accessibility, strengthen foreign economic ties and create new opportunities for moving cargo between the regions of Russia and China. Expanded exports and imports will bring an additional economic effect for Yakutia.

Dmitry Koptev