ST. PETERSBURG, June 7 (TASS) - Russia’s Novatek, Sovcomflot, China’s Cosco Shipping and the Silk Road Fund have agreed to set up a joint venture based on the company Maritime Arctic Transport for year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route. The agreement was signed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

“We have agreed to set up a joint venture, and we are already confident that those plans (on loading Northern Sea Route — TASS) will not only be implemented, but will be implemented with biggest profit,” Chief Executive Officer of Russia’s gas producer Leonid Mikhelson said at the signing ceremony.

Earlier on Thursday Novatek announced the founding of its own transport company Maritime Arctic Transport (MArT) for managing transport expenses and their optimization, boosting unique competencies of the Arctic navigation and centralized management of the Arctic fleet.