The drafting of the bill is provided for by paragraph 48 of the Plan of legislative activities of the Government for 2020 ("On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation (in terms of providing the possibility of concluding long-term agreements for the provision of icebreaker assistance services for a ship along the Northern Sea Route").

The bill is aimed at updating the legal regulation of relations on icebreaker assistance in the water area of the Northern Sea Route.

The provisions proposed by the bill in the context of the promising development of the Arctic will create favorable conditions for sea carriers to conclude package long-term agreements for the provision of services using ships of the nuclear icebreaker fleet, which, in turn, will allow the development of transit navigation along the NSR and turn it into a really functioning international sea mainline, which will allow solving the strategic task for the Russian Federation of developing the NSR and increasing cargo traffic along it to 80 million tons by 2024, set by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation "On national goals and strategic objectives of the development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024".

The bill provides for:

• the possibility of concluding long-term agreements for the provision of fee-based services for the icebreaker assistance of a ship, provided by the ships of the nuclear icebreaker fleet in the water area of the NSR, and (or) other services necessary for the purposes of commercial navigation
• determination of the essential conditions of these agreements (term, list of services provided, procedure for payment for each of the services included in the specified list, responsibility of the parties for non-performance or improper performance of obligations)

The procedure for payment for services for icebreaker assistance of a ship remains unchanged and is established by the parties to the agreement in compliance with the requirements of sub-paragraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph 5 of Article 5.1 of the Code, in accordance with which the amount of charge for icebreaker assistance of a ship, piloting of a vessel in the water area of the NSR is determined in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on natural monopolies, taking into account the capacity of the vessel, the ice class of the vessel, the distance at which this vessel is assisted, and the period of navigation, while payment for these services is made based on the amount of services actually rendered.

For reference:
Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 388 dated 24.04.2015 "On approval of the regulations on state regulation of tariffs for icebreaker support of vessels, piloting of vessels in the water area of the Northern Sea Route". 

Order of the FTS of Russia No. 46-t / 2 dated 04.03.2014 “On approval of the rules for the application of tariffs for icebreaker assistance of ships in the water area of the Northern Sea Route”.

Regarding the procedure for paying for other services (not related to icebreaker assistance and piloting in the water area of the NSR), there are no special rules for determining the amount and procedure for payment similar to the above-mentioned legislation, and therefore payment for other services shall be determined by agreement of the parties in accordance with the civil law.

The bill has been approved by the interested federal executive authorities – the Ministry of Transport of Russia, the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, and the Federal Agency for Fishery.

The draft law obtained the opinion on the assessment of the regulatory impact from the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government, the Ministry of Justice of Russia, the State Legal Department of the President of the Russian Federation.

Legal and technical notes have been taken into account. There are no corruptogenic factors in the draft law.