'Construction on the first and second nuclear-powered icebreakers of the Lider series is planned to commence in 2023 and 2025, and their launch is planned in 2030 and 2032 respectively', Besprozvannykh said, speaking at the international forum, The Arctic: The Present and the Future, in St. Petersburg.

The Lider series flagship icebreaker is scheduled for launch in 2027.

The 120-megawatt Lider flagship will be the first vessel of its kind in the world to be able to lead transports along the Northern Sea Route all year with ice depths up to four metres. Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev recently informed TASS that, in the agency's estimation, the first new-generation Lider series icebreaker would cost RUB 120 bn to build in 2019 prices. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce capped the construction cost at RUB 127.5 bn. It was also reported that the entire construction budget of the flagship icebreaker would be sponsored by the federal government.

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