Northern Sea Route and Arctic: Meeting of the Russian State Council Commission

The meeting was attended by representatives from the Presidential Executive Office, federal ministries and agencies, the State Duma, VEB.RF State Development Corporation, PhosAgro, OSK, Norilsk Nickel, and heads of Arctic regions.

The participants discussed socioeconomic issues of the regions in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, the integrated project for the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), as well as proposals for consideration during the 6^th International Arctic Forum “The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue,” to be held in Murmansk on March 26–27.

In his opening remarks Alexei Dyumin noted that the Arctic is acquiring a new significance and becoming a key element in securing Russia’s future. To maintain Russia’s leadership in the Arctic and to ensure dynamic economic development of this macro-region requires consolidation of all available tools, including financial and managerial. It is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of the situation in the Arctic zone, to understand whether the available measures are sufficient to support the development of the territory, and to use this analysis to identify the amendments that may need to be introduced to the Arctic Development Strategy, taking into account the existing challenges of foreign and domestic political and economic nature.

“The people who have tied their fate to the North are the main driving force of economic growth and development of the Arctic. The state must provide northerners with a decent quality of life. In this regard, the main areas of our work continue to include providing comfortable housing conditions and developing modern social and engineering infrastructure,” the State Council Secretary said.

Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic Alexei Chekunkov noted that in pursuance of the President’s instructions and the strategic documents on developing the Arctic regions, the Government is implementing socioeconomic programmes aimed at attracting investment in the region’s economy, creating new enterprises, modernising cities, and most importantly, improving the quality of life in the Arctic.

“A huge role in increasing the investment appeal of the region is played by the priority development areas and the special economic regime of Russia’s Arctic zone. Thanks to them, almost 1,000 new projects with a total investment volume of over two trillion rubles are already being implemented. This amount represents only the residents’ investment. The total amount of funding that went into the investment projects in the Arctic exceeds 30 trillion rubles. Every sixth ruble of Russia’s GDP is being created in the Arctic,” the Minister said.

“Today, on Arctic Day, during the meeting of the commission, we proposed holding a meeting with Arctic governors – chairs of the State Council commissions as part of the International Arctic Forum “The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue.” Based on the outcomes of the forum, a list of instructions for expedited implementation of projects will be drawn up. This is another important step towards strengthening Russia’s position in the Arctic and creating comfortable conditions for living and working in the Arctic Circle. The Arctic requires system-wide solutions, so we need a comprehensive project for the development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and the NSR, which can receive the status of a national project,” Chair of the Northern Sea Route and the Arctic Commission Andrei Chibis said.