Today, a meeting of the State Council Commission of the Russian Federation on the Northern Sea Route and the Arctic was held in Moscow under the chairmanship of Murmansk Region Governor Andrei Chibis. The participants discussed proposals for finalizing the updated version of the strategy for the development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and ensuring national security for the period up to 2035. The issue of developing a financial and economic model for the Northern Sea Route and the Transarctic Transport Corridor was also considered. These topics are being developed in accordance with the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin given following the results of the International Arctic Forum.

The draft of the updated strategy, developed taking into account proposals from the scientific and expert community, was submitted for discussion to the commission. As the chairman of the commission, Murmansk Region Governor Andrei Chibis emphasized in his speech, it is important that the key strategic document on the development of the Arctic meets current challenges - primarily economic and geopolitical ones, and also reflects the real state of affairs taking into account foreign policy changes. The document should be designed not for 10 years, but for 25 years, which is dictated by the specifics of the infrastructure development of the macro-region.

"We are discussing how the Russian Arctic will develop in the near future - at least until 2050. The strategy should be prepared in detail, with a set of approaches to solving a wide range of issues, and the tool for implementing the updated strategy should be a comprehensive project for the development of the Arctic and the Transarctic Transport Corridor. Such an instruction was formulated by the President. I would like to emphasize that these initiatives were developed at the site of our State Council commission, and we continue to work systematically. The updated version of the strategy is the basis that will be finalized taking into account the proposals of the commission members and its expert council. Our common task is to ensure that the proposals are processed and taken into account, as well as the strategy is coordinated with the President's instruction, namely, the inclusion in the document of issues of developing the Transarctic Transport Corridor, and in particular, the Northern Sea Route. The development of the Arctic and the TTC are inextricably linked, and our task is to consider them together as a single whole," the governor noted. 

Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Alexey Chekunkov also emphasized that the logic of managing the Arctic zone is based on a systemic approach and is based on key priorities that reflect Russia's long-term interests in this macro-region. 

"This is the rational development of the resource base and deep processing - in compliance with environmental standards, accelerated development of the NSR as an international transport corridor of global importance, renovation of key supporting settlements, protection of the original habitat and traditional way of life of indigenous and small-numbered peoples of the North, environmental safety and adaptation to climate change," the head of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East listed.

The need to include the potential of the entire country in the development of the Arctic zone as a priority macroregion of the Russian Federation was noted by the Head of the Presidential Administration for National Maritime Policy of the Russian Federation Sergei Vakhrukov.

"The new strategy should be based, first of all, on the basic infrastructure project - the Transarctic Transport Corridor. And it goes beyond the Arctic, this is fundamentally important. This is St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, and Vladivostok. In essence, the development of the Arctic is symbiosis. It is important to reflect how other regions can participate in this process. In addition, the new document must emphasize the importance of military, economic and energy security. “It is also a priority to advance Arctic science, fundamental and applied research in many areas, actively involving science “from the mainland,” he commented.

In terms of forming an effective financial, economic and optimal organizational model of the Transarctic Transport Corridor, an important aspect was recorded: in order to ensure sustainable growth of TTK freight traffic in the coming decades, it is extremely important to expand geological exploration and launch new mineral extraction projects in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation, the logistics of which will involve the TTK infrastructure. 

In conclusion, the Governor of the Murmansk Region and Chairman of the Commission Andrey Chibis thanked the participants for their involvement, in-depth development of the draft updated strategy and valuable comments given during the meeting. 

“We will definitely develop the Arctic and the TTK - this is a matter of our country's security. This is a global, difficult, multi-faceted task. Taking into account what was stated today, we will continue working on updating the strategy, in terms of tools and mechanisms. And with this position we will continue to move forward on various platforms, including reaching out to the country's leadership," the head of the region noted. 

/ Ministry of Information Policy of the Murmansk Region /