BAM was pulled into the future – Newspaper Kommersant No. 217 (7418) dated 11/23/2022

After completion of the second stage of the expansion of the Eastern landfill, the Ministry of Transport proposes to further increase its throughput to 255 million tons per year by 2031-2032. According to Kommersant’s information, the first stage, until 2027, involves the expansion of the BAM for 465 billion rubles. under 17 million tons of Elgaugol cargo. At the second stage, previous unfinished projects should be completed and new facilities worth 800 billion rubles should appear. The third stage is the acceptance of the concession offer of Gazprombank and Bamtonnelstroy-Most Ruslan Baisarov for 650 billion rubles. with the construction of three large tunnels and a bridge across the Amur.

The Ministry of Transport is considering the possibility of increasing the throughput capacity of the Eastern landfill to 255 million tons by 2031-2032, Deputy Transport Minister Valentin Ivanov said on November 22 at a meeting of the International Coordinating Council for Trans-Eurasian Transportation. “Design work has begun on the third stage of the development of the Eastern test site, the development stages are being worked out now,” he explained.

A Kommersant source familiar with the discussion of the project says that we are talking about three stages of the expansion of the BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway after the completion of the second stage in 2024: the first – by 2028, the second – until 2029, the third – until 2031. Russian Railways Kommersant only noted that the main parameters of the third stage of the development of the Eastern range “are being discussed in the federal executive authorities.”

According to materials seen by Kommersant, the cost of the actual third stage of the expansion of the BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway is 465 billion rubles. (previously the estimate was 332.6 billion rubles, see Kommersant from 16 of September and September 21, 2021). Now the draft investment program for 2023-2025 provides for the allocation of 140 billion rubles for BAM-3.

The construction should be completed in 2027 with a carrying capacity of 197 million tons.

As previously wrote “Kommersant”, we are talking about an increase in the export of coal to the east from the Elga deposit in the direction of the ports of the Vanino-Sovgavan hub by 16.6 million tons. To achieve this goal, the carrying capacity of the Ulak-Komsomolsk-on-Amur section should increase from 48.6 million to 65.2 million tons, for which it is planned to build 383 km of second tracks, 219 km of double-track inserts, reconstruct five stations (Verkhnezeysk, Fevralsk , Novy Urgal, Postyshevo and Vysokogornaya) and three locomotive facilities.

Taking into account the fact that A-Property Albert Avdolyan is building a separate non-public Pacific railway to the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk for the needs of Elgaugol, the question arises whether Elgaugol will send the volumes laid down in it through the third BAM. In A-Property, Kommersant was told that they plan to send about 20 million tons of cargo to the third BAM.

Kommersant’s interlocutor, who is familiar with the discussion of the construction site, says that the second part of BAM-3 is also being considered.

In another set of measures worth about 800 billion rubles. by 210 million tons from the second stage, a number of those construction projects that do not directly affect the achievement of 180 million tons will be transferred. So, events worth 246 billion rubles are postponed to 2025, now included in the second stage, says one of Kommersant’s interlocutors. Another notes that, in particular, electrification of the Volochaevka-Komsomolsk-Sovgavan section will be postponed.

A Kommersant source in the power industry says that when working out measures for 210 million tons, it turned out that the cost of building and reconstructing power facilities will be 1 trillion rubles. According to the interlocutor of Kommersant, the Ministry of Energy “a year ago reported to the government that the electrification of the BAM and non-electrified sections of the Trans-Siberian Railway is inappropriate.”

As part of the third stage, the interlocutors of Kommersant tell, the concession initiative of Bamtonnelstroy-Most (BTS-Most) of Ruslan Baisarov and Gazprombank for 650 billion rubles will be adopted. with construction until 2032. We are talking about the construction of the second Severomuysky, Kodarsky and Kuznetsovsky tunnels and a bridge across the Amur.

On the readiness of the consortium of Gazprombank and BTS-Most to take the expansion of the Eastern test site into concession “Kommersant” wrote on June 1. Then it was reported that the construction would allow reaching a carrying capacity of 260-280 million tons by 2035 and a potential concessionaire was ready to invest 1.5 trillion rubles. But when submitting a concession initiative (see “Kommersant” of September 6) it was clarified that it concerns only the most complex infrastructure facilities with the longest construction periods. “Currently, our concession initiative is under consideration by the government,” Nikita Satyukov, deputy chairman of the board of directors of BTS-Most, explained to Kommersant. “Our intentions are in force, we are as interested as possible in the implementation of these projects.”

Forecasts of cargo flows, emphasizes Mr. Satyukov, “confirm the need to immediately begin the implementation of technologically complex sections of the Eastern test site.”

According to him, these projects require at least eight years of work, but without them “it is impossible to significantly increase the carrying capacity.” If a positive decision is made on the concession initiative, Nikita Satyukov assured, the company “is ready to start designing and building the declared facilities in a short time.”

Natalya Skorlygina, Evgeny Zainullin