Arctic policy of Russia
The Arctic policy of Russia is the domestic and
The stated goals of Russia in its Arctic policy are to utilize its natural resources, protect its
Russia conducts extensive research in the Arctic region, notably the drifting ice stations and the Arktika 2007 expedition, which was the first to reach the seabed at the North Pole. The research is partly aimed to back up Russia's territorial claims, specifically those related to Russia's extended continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean.
History
On October 1, 1987, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, delivered the Murmansk Initiative stating six goals of the Soviet Union's Arctic foreign policy: establish a nuclear-free zone in Northern Europe; reduce military activity in the Baltic, Northern, Norwegian and Greenland Seas; cooperate on resource development; form an international conference on Arctic scientific research coordination; cooperate in environmental protection and management; and open the Northern Sea Route.[5]
Geography
The Russian
The eight zones are Kola, Arkhangelsk, Nenets, Vorkuta, Yamal-Nenets, Taimyr-Turukhan, North Yakutia and Chukotka.[8] In the North Yakutia area, the project includes reconstruction of the Tiksi sea port and the port of Zelenomysky.[9] In the Arkhangelsk zone, this will include the construction of the Belkomur Railway .[10]
Exploration
The first recorded voyage to the Russian Arctic was by the
After
Territorial claims
Modern Russian territorial claims to the Arctic officially date back to April 15, 1926, when the Soviet Union claimed land between 32°04'35"E and 168°49'30"W. However, this claim specifically only applied to
On March 12, 1997, Russia ratified the
In August 2007, a Russian expedition named
Foreign Ministers and other officials representing Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States met in Ilulissat, Greenland in May 2008, at the Arctic Ocean Conference and announced the Ilulissat Declaration. Among other things the declaration stated that any demarcation issues in the Arctic should be resolved on a bilateral basis between contesting parties.[29][30]
An example of such bilateral agreement was achieved between Russia and Norway in 2010.
Military
Part of Russia's current Arctic policy includes maintaining a military presence in the region. In 2014, the
The first
Russia says that it has military units specifically trained for Arctic combat.
Research
Russia has conducted research in the Arctic for decades. The country is the only one that uses
Drifting station
In 2011, research stations under construction included one on
Over the summer of 2015, Russia built a large Federal Security Service (Russ. FSB) Border Guard base on
Economy
Russia's economic interests in the Arctic are based on two things - natural resources and maritime transport.
The route is currently open for up to eight weeks a year, and studies are predicting that climate change will lead to further reduction in Arctic ice, which can lead to greater use of the route.[53][54] Even when "open" this route is not totally ice free and requires Russian icebreaker and navigational support to ensure safety of passage. Currently 1.5 million tonnes (1,500,000 long tons; 1,700,000 short tons) of goods are transported along the Northern Sea Route every year.[53] Traffic through the Route is expected to increase tenfold by 2020, and six tankers have already gone through in 2010.[52] The Russian government estimates that annual cargo traffic could reach 85 million metric tons,[55] and shipping along the Route could account for a quarter of cargo between Europe and Asia by 2030.[56] However, using the Northern Sea Route extensively will require vast expansion of Russia's current infrastructure in the Arctic, especially ports and naval vessels.[53] In August 2011 Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of Russia's Security Council, stated that the poor condition of infrastructure in the Arctic hinders development there, reducing the attractiveness of the region's resources for development.[4] The infrastructure is worse in the eastern part of Russia, which also contains more resources.[4] Recent economic sanctions imposed on Russia have additionally weakened the NSR's viability for foreign investors and in 2014 the overall number of voyages across the passage has fallen dramatically from 71 to 53.[57]
The
But so far, Russia's concentration on production of oil and gas on the Yamal Peninsula met with huge challenges.[60] In attempting to extract gas and oil in the Arctic region, Gazprom encounter harsh climate and the long lines of communication. So Gazprom requires large investments with high risk and a long investment horizon and is dependent on the energy prices continuing to be high so that the extraction is profitable. International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the majority of the Arctic fields are not profitable if the world market price of oil is below 120 dollars per barrel. At the time of this writing (May 11, 2017), the price of Brent oil has fallen to around 50 dollars per barrel. Meanwhile, since Russian law only allows for the state energy companies Gazprom (mainly gas) and Rosneft (mainly oil) to extract oil and gas from the continental shelf – but since these two firms do not have at their own disposal the necessary technological expertise – they have entered into partnerships with a number of foreign firms.[60]
The Russian Government is also attempting to increase foreign investment in its Arctic resources. In August 2011 Rosneft, a Russian government-operated oil company, signed a deal with ExxonMobil in which Rosneft received some of Exxon's global oil assets in exchange for the joint development of Russian Arctic resources by both companies.[61] This agreement includes a $3.2 billion hydrocarbon exploration of the Kara and Black seas (although the Black Sea is not in the Arctic),[62] as well as the joint development of ice-resistant drilling platforms and other Arctic technologies.[63] This deal followed a failed attempt at a similar cooperation between Rosneft and BP in May.[61] Chevron is currently in talks with Rosneft about jointly developing Arctic resources.[64]
Russia is the only country in the world planning to use
Russia wants to establish its Arctic possessions as a major resource base by 2020.
In September 2013, Gazprom's oil drilling activities in the Arctic have drawn protests from environmental groups particularly Greenpeace. Greenpeace has opposed oil drilling in the Arctic on the grounds that oil drilling would cause damage to the Arctic ecosystem and that there are no safety plans in place to prevent oil spills.
See also
- Arctic Cooperation and Politics
- Arctic Council
- Arctic five
- Extreme North (Russia)
- Continental shelf of Russia
- Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route
- Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise ship case
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External links
Literature
- Kharlampieva, N. "The Transnational Arctic and Russia." In Energy Security and Geopolitics in the Arctic: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century, edited by Hooman Peimani. Singapore: World Scientific, 2012
- Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander. The Arctic at the crossroads of geopolitical interests // Russian Politics and Law, 2012. — Vol. 50, — № 2. — P. 34-54
- Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander: Is Russia a revisionist military power in the Arctic? Defense & Security Analysis, September 2014.
- Konyshev, Valery & Sergunin, Alexander. Russia in search of its Arctic strategy: between hard and soft power? Polar Journal, April 2014.
- Devyatkin, Pavel. Russia's Arctic Strategy: aimed at conflict or cooperation? The Arctic Institute, February 2018.