VEB.RF will provide RUB 4 bn for the Lavna port construction project (Lavna Commercial Seaport LLC) under the concessional financing mechanism, Interfax reported citing the press service of JSC State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK, the project concessionaire).

The first tranche of RUB 550 mn has already been received. GTLK notes that these funds will be used to finance construction, installation and commissioning work.

'The deep-water and ice-free port of Lavna is the western edge of the expanded North Sea Route, providing direct access to neutral waters,' Evgeny Dietrich, General Director of GTLK, was quoted by the press service as saying. He also called the port 'another promising project in VEB's portfolio as a development institution.'

'The launch of Lavna will help open up new markets for Russian exporters to the Asia-Pacific region. Lavna will contribute to solving the strategic task of reorienting the cargo base towards domestic port facilities,' VEB.ru Chairman Igor Shuvalov said in a statement.

The project is expected to pay RUB 43 bn into budgets of various levels, while the launch of the port will contribute a total of RUB 238 bn to Russia's gross domestic product.