Lukashenko's Plan Collides With Reality

• 14.01.2026, 13:25

Does Belarus need a port in the Murmansk region?

The cargo turnover of the Russian Murmansk Commercial Sea Port (MSTP) in 2025 has sharply decreased - by almost a third. According to the port's press service, the transshipment volume fell from 13.97 million tons to 9.73 million tons over the year, writes "Belarusians and the market".

The MMTP admits that last year turned out to be extremely difficult for the entire port industry. "2025 was a real test: the fall in world coal prices, the growth of railroad tariffs and the reorientation of export flows to eastern directions," the press service said. Against the backdrop of lower loading, the enterprise was forced to cut about 20% of its staff.

Murmansk Commercial Seaport remains the only universal port in the European part of Russia with direct access to the World Ocean and year-round navigation. The main part of cargo traffic here is traditionally formed by coal - about 77%, as well as iron ore concentrate and pellets, the share of which reaches 21%.

Problems also affected other ports of the region. Thus, Murmansk Sea Fishing Port for the first ten months of 2025 reduced cargo turnover by 41.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.

At the same time, plans to build a new Belarusian terminal on the Kola Peninsula continue. The project, linked to the structures of businessman Nikolai Voroby, close to Lukashenko, involves the creation of facilities for transshipment of oil products and potash fertilizers. The first cargoes are expected to be accepted no earlier than 2028.