On 20 December the 53 km railroad Yaiva-Solikamsk was opened. The bypass has been built beyond the mine fields under development and those planned for development at the Verkhnekamsk deposit of potassium and magnesium salts and removes completely a threat of disruption of potash shipments from JSC Silvinit. The threat came after the appearance of a sinkhole in July 2007 in the area of the flooding at Berezniki-I of JSC Uralkali and had persisted up to the current moment.

Construction of the 53 km railroad followed the launch of the 850 m long bypass in early 2007 that was later within the expansion area of the sinkhole. In January 2008 a new 6 km bypass was opened. However, a possibility of an expansion of the sinkhole and crack that appeared in October 2008 was not ruled out as there was still a risk of the negative influence of subsurface processes. As a result, a possibility persisted that shipments of potash from JSC Silvinit could stop.

The cost of the project is estimated at around 12.3 billion rubles. The railroad is part of the Belkomur project that in the future envisages construction of a railroad Arkhangelsk-Syktyvkar-Gainy-Solikamsk and will give an access to the White Sea to enterprises based in the Perm region, including potash producers.

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