Sokolov planned to transport cargo from the north to the south via the Vyatka.

      Governor of the Kirov Region Alexander Sokolov instructed the regional Ministry of Transport, together with colleagues from the Arkhangelsk region and "Russian Railways," to organize multimodal cargo transportation from Arkhangelsk to Astrakhan in 2027 using rail, road, and river transport, including the Vyatka River. According to him, the authorities of the Arkhangelsk region and Tatarstan, through which this route will also pass, support the initiative.

      It is expected that cargo will be delivered to Kirov by rail, then it will go along the Vyatka towards Kazan, where it will be transferred to other vessels and then sent via rivers towards Astrakhan and the Caspian Sea. Sokolov noted that this would improve trade communication with Iran and other countries. He also expressed hope that, inspired by such an ambitious idea, federal authorities would allocate funds for the remaining dredging work on the Vyatka in the coming months.

      It is worth reminding that in 2026, a 10-kilometer section of the Vyatka within Kirov was deepened from the cargo port in the village of Bolshaya Gora to Naberezhnaya Grina. The total length of sections with guaranteed dimensions for the navigable channel now amounts to 68.1 kilometers. However, to implement the plan, this figure needs to be increased tenfold, which will require multi-billion investments. Until then, the deepened section of the Vyatka will only allow the launch of passenger vessels and small cargo ships.

      Sokolov expects that the potential volume of cargo flow that will go along the Vyatka could reach 10 million tons. This figure seems fantastic against the backdrop of the fact that in recent years only 140 thousand tons of cargo have been transported along the river.

      It is also worth noting that the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is in a rather difficult position. In 2018, the president ordered to increase cargo traffic along the NSR to 80 million tons by 2024, but in 2025, only 37.02 million tons were transported along the route. This is a decrease of 2.3% compared to 2024. Moreover, over the next five years (2026-2030), ports on the NSR will require dredging of about 60 million cubic meters. Previously, Russia attracted foreign contractors with the necessary fleet and technologies, but due to sanctions, it had to abandon them. Now the authorities are exploring options for creating or acquiring their own dredging fleet.

      Overall, the implementation of the new initiative currently seems unlikely, especially considering the serious burden on the federal budget, problems with the NSR, and the need to ensure a guaranteed cargo flow that could recoup investments.