The session "The Vector of Arctic Development in new Conditions" was held within the framework of the International Arctic Forum with the support of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic.
Ilya Chernov, Director of the Department for the Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and the Implementation of Infrastructure Projects at the Ministry of the Far East Development of Russia, opened the discussion by presenting the main results of the implementation of the development strategy of the Russian Arctic. He noted that the development of the Arctic territories is one of the priorities of Russia's state policy today.
"The decisions that were laid down in the development strategy of the Russian Arctic were previously made in completely different geopolitical conditions, and the importance of the Arctic has increased significantly. At the moment, full–fledged and working mechanisms for attracting investments have been formed in the Arctic," said Ilya Chernov.
Svetlana Panfilova, Deputy Governor of the Murmansk Region and Minister of Arctic Development and Economy of the Murmansk Region, spoke at the session about the prospects for the development of the Arctic in the new conditions.
"The support of the federal Government and personally of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, plays an important role in this issue. The development strategy of the Russian Arctic until 2035 and the introduced preferential regimes of the Russian Arctic and the TOP have given an impetus to the development of the Arctic territories and have brought us all to the current day, where, in the fifth anniversary year of the approval of this strategy and the regime of the Russian Arctic, we are discussing further steps for the development of the Arctic in its capital, the Murmansk Region," Svetlana Panfilova emphasized.
According to the head of the Ministry of Arctic Development and Economy, in the new external economic conditions, the relevance of the NSR is increasing, as it reduces the delivery time of goods by half and is located in the territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone of Russia. The Murmansk Region is successfully developing in this direction, implementing projects to modernize the infrastructure of the port of Murmansk in order to increase cargo traffic.
Svetlana Panfilova also noted that the decisions of the State Council Commission, headed by the Governor of the Murmansk Region Andrey Chibis, reflect the priority areas of Arctic development, including the integrated development of the Northern Sea Route, the advanced development of domestic shipbuilding and ship repair, the creation and development of infrastructure for mineral resource centers, improving the reliability of the electric grid infrastructure, the implementation of gasification projects and the construction of an LNG plant in the Murmansk region, creation of enterprises in the modern construction industry and development of infrastructure for student education.
Svetlana Panfilova noted that the existing ship repair enterprises in the region mainly belong to the military-industrial complex, and also serve civilian vessels.
The Murmansk Region is implementing a number of projects aimed at developing this industry and is currently actively working on several key initiatives. Jointly with the State Transport Leasing Company (GTLC) Murmansk Fishing Port is undergoing renovation of one of the city's districts in order to create a modern cluster-type ship repair facility. In addition, negotiations are underway to involve one of the ship repair plants belonging to the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) in the development of the industry. Given the high utilization of existing shipbuilding capacities in the country and the growing demand for the merchant fleet, the creation of new capacities in the region seems to be a strategically important step to ensure the development of the Russian maritime industry. Thus, Murmansk has the potential to become a center not only for ship repair, but also for shipbuilding.
/ Ministry of Arctic Development and Economy of the Murmansk Region /