During his recent visit to Tatarstan, Arkhangelsk Governor Nikolai Kiselyov clearly expressed his position: “We act completely in line with the Tatarstani oil companies”. The Tatneft oil company, owned by business interests in Tatarstan, in November 2003 said they wanted to construct an oil terminal in Severodvinsk. Now the plans of the company have changed, and the Onega Bay is chosen as the preferred terminal site.

The Severodvinsk terminal was intended to have a 2.5 million ton capacity per year. The Tatneft has however found out that it can significantly increase terminal capacity if using the Onega Bay and a boat-to-boat method. Similar floating terminal techniques, with reloading to and from tankers have been used in the Onega Bay first time in 2003, Barentsobserver reported.