The construction of the bridge on the island of Sakhalin will be the company of Arkady Rothenberg "Stroygazmontazh". This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to three informed sources. The value of the contract is estimated at 286 billion rubles.

Interlocutors of the agency close to the Kremlin and to "Stroygazmontazh" noted that the decision to conclude a corresponding deal has already been made, but the authorities will be able to announce the signing of the contract and announce the contract only in the next year, 2018. This information was also confirmed by a source close to RZD, which will monitor the work.

The press secretary of the president Dmitry Peskov, commenting on this, said that the final decision regarding the construction of the bridge on Sakhalin has not yet been accepted. A spokesman for Rothenberg said that it was premature to comment on the company's participation in this project.

In early September, President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum that the government was "exploring the possibility of building a railway crossing" on Sakhalin Island. According to him, the construction of the railway, development of the Northern Sea Route, modernization of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian highways will allow developing the Far East and turning the region "into one of the most important logistic hubs in the world".

In February this year, Sergei Ivanov, Russia's special envoy for environmental protection, ecology and transport, said that without the construction of a bridge from the mainland to Sakhalin, it would be pointless to talk about a project to build a transition between Sakhalin and the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The latter idea was discussed by Moscow and Tokyo, and the ministries of the two countries even set up a working group to work on this issue.

The Sakhalin-mainland transport project was discussed for many years, intensive work on it began in 1999-2000. This project envisaged the construction of a new railway (about 580 km) from the Transsib, the railway and road bridge across the Tatar Strait (7.5 km), and the modernization of the Sakhalin railway network (about 870 km).

In 2002, a government examination was carried out, which showed that from a technical point of view the project is being implemented. The cost of the project was estimated at $ 4.5 billion, of which $ 2 billion is earmarked for the construction of a new railway branch and bridge, and $ 2.5 billion for the modernization of the railway system on Sakhalin.

The company "Stroygazmontazh" is engaged in the construction of the Crimean bridge across the Kerch Strait. To implement this project, it is planned to spend 228.3 billion rubles.