Svetlana Panfilova, Deputy Governor of the Murmansk Region and Minister of Arctic Development and Regional Economy, spoke to the publication "Time to Go to the Arctic!" about the region's key development areas that shape the Arctic's image of the future: technologically advanced and comfortable for living. 

Priorities for the development of Russia's strategic outpost in the Arctic in the coming years:

- Comprehensive development of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor (NSR) : Developing the port of Murmansk as a key hub on the Northern Sea Route, which will halve cargo delivery times between Europe and Asia, ensuring Russia's security and sovereignty in the new economic environment;
- Shipbuilding : Accelerating the development of domestic capacity to handle the growing cargo turnover along the Northern Sea Route and the creation of a modern icebreaker and transport fleet;
- Gasification as a growth driver for the entire region : Addressing fuel oil dependence on energy, opening new investment projects, and modernizing production facilities. 

The region's development rate is in line with the goals set by the country's government and is supported by large-scale, unprecedented projects:

- Comprehensive development of the Murmansk transport hub : Increasing the carrying capacity of the railway approaches to the port of Murmansk. In 2026, it will amount to 45 million tons;
- Lavna Sea Trade Port : The first new port since the Soviet era, opening up broad opportunities for increasing cargo turnover;
- Ship repair : Modernization of existing and creation of new ship repair facilities in collaboration with major investors;
- Murmansk Sea Fishing Port : A strategic asset was returned to state ownership and received opportunities for new development in the master plan of the Murmansk agglomeration;
- Development of the Atomflot base : Creation of new infrastructure for servicing icebreakers and completion of floating nuclear power plants. 

Other drivers of economic growth:

- Mineral Resources : Large-scale modernization and expansion of mining enterprises (Kovdorsky GOK, Apatit), development of lithium and rare earth metal deposits;
- Rare Earth Metals : Lovozersky GOK LLC is the only enterprise producing loparite concentrate; a project to produce separated rare earth metals is being implemented. The Murmansk Region contains more than half of Russia's total lithium reserves. 

HR policy:

- Career guidance and training : Close collaboration between educational institutions and leading companies in the region to train in-demand specialists. Young workers receive high salaries at the region's mining enterprises.
- The "Course to the North" project : Attracting qualified specialists from across the country.
- A world-class university campus : Creating a talent hub and research ecosystem in the Far North. 

Environmental safety:     

The government, business, and science are working together to comply with regulations and implement green technologies. Furthermore, large companies are implementing ambitious environmental strategies, such as the new gas cleaning system at Norilsk Nickel's Kola site, which utilizes domestically developed solutions. Its key objective is to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by almost a thousand tons per year. 

Preferential regimes:

The most popular and effective business support tool in the Murmansk region is the special preferential regimes offered by the Russian Arctic Zone and the "Capital of the Arctic" advanced development area. The region currently leads in terms of resident population and investment volume. Total investment in the Murmansk region's economy will exceed 596 billion rubles, creating approximately 15,000 jobs.