Top Arctic stories of the week, 31 January -- 4 February 2022

Below is a recap of this week’s posts by Alexander Stotskiy (CEO, Project Office for Arctic Development) analyzing major international, national and regional events and trends in the Arctic.

A major road concession contract will be signed with an investor

New public-private partnership mechanisms are being introduced in Russia under the Far Eastern Concession Programme. A concession contract worth some USD 0.7 billion to build a road for the Baimsky GOK project in the Chukotka Autonomous District will be signed in the near future, the Arctic and Far Eastern Ministry says. According to authorities, about 40 concession projects worth USD 3.6 billion are currently under consideration as per the Programme launched in September 2021. Read more…

Thousands of tonnes of waste will be removed from Yakutia’s Arctic areas

Work is underway to mount a major cleanup effort in northern parts of Yakutia, one of Russia’s Arctic regions. As part of the Clean Arctic Programme, more than 20,000 tonnes of waste will be removed from three polar villages located in the region. Corporate volunteering plays an increasingly important role in making this part of the Russian Arctic cleaner, regional authorities say. Several companies will transport waste from several more Yakutia’s remote Arctic settlements to processing sites in the near future. Read more…

Government will fund construction of new research fleet

The Government intends to allocate more than USD 300 million to build new research vessels in the coming four years. Funds will be used to finance the construction of two Arctic-class research ships. Both vessels will be complete in three years. Apart from this, in 2022, some USD 12 million will be invested by the Government to build a large-capacity research sea vessel at the Northern Shipyard in St. Petersburg. The ship will be used to perform long-term research in the World Ocean. Read more…

Arctic hectares became available to all Russian nationals

Effective from 1 February 2022, non-Arctic residents are able to apply for land plots in the Russian Arctic. A six-month moratorium on submissions by non-Arctic residents introduced to ensure the priority of those who live in Russia’s polar regions expired on that date, which opens the way for all Russian nationals and naturalized immigrants from the CIS countries to submit their applications. The Ministry for the Far East and Arctic expects that the opportunity will be used by self-starters willing to settle down in the North, build a house and/or launch a business project. Read more…

An interactive investment map for the Russian Far East and Arctic has been brought online

The Far East and Arctic Development Corporation launched an online investment map offering tools for quick selection of land plots available for new investment projects. At the moment, the map’s database includes more than 600 greenfield and brownfield sites, as well as some 7,000 pieces of infrastructure. Land plots are offered by all eighteen regions that are part of the Russian Far East and Arctic. The system provides the functionality to compare different offers based on key criteria such as site size/dimensions, distance from regional centers, access to/types of infrastructure, applicable benefits etc. The site is available in Russian, English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Read more…