On December 25, 2012, the Kuznetsovsky tunnel at the Far Easter Russian Railways corridor connecting Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Sovetskaya Gavan opened to rail traffic. The tunnel is considered to be among the most significant infrastructural projects of the Russian Railways. In view of the complexity of the project, it is particularly noteworthy that the tunnel was finished nearly half a year before its target completion date.

In his address at the ceremonial launch of operations, Vladimir Yakunin, the President of the Russian Railways, emphasized that the project has strategic importance for Russia’s development. In the words of Mr. Yakunin, the tunnel represents a significant step in facilitating economic development in the Far East.

With the new tunnel commissioned, a sustainable and continuous flow of cargo will occur from the Sovetskaya Gavan port to the port of Vanino. Before the tunnel opened, the volume of shipments between the two ports stood at 19 million tons per year. The tunnel is expected to increase the transportation capacity to 29 million tons. Other projects along the rail network planned to the year 2016 will allow cargo flow to rise to 36 million tons. In the view of Mr. Yakunin, this project will provide significant profit to the Russian government. While total state investments stood at 17.26 billion roubles, the Khabarovsk territory has already received extra two billion roubles in taxes alone for this year. Taxation revenue in 2013 is anticipated at four billion roubles. Altogether, the Russian Railways pays approximately 10 billion roubles in taxes to the regional budgets of the Far Eastern territories.

The ceremonial launch featured Vladimir Putin’s address to the participants via a satellite link. The launch of the Kuznetsovsky tunnel in the Far East and the commissioning of the second stage of the Eastern Siberia to Pacific Ocean pipeline constitute some of the most significant projects for the Russian economy as a whole, according to the Russian President. As the Russian head of state said, projects such as these considerably expand infrastructural possibilities within the eastern regions of Russia.