Russian Federation’s Policy for the Arctic to 2020

Translated from Russian

Promulgated: March 30, 2009,

publication of the official governmental newspaper “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”

Adopted by the President of the Russian Federation

D. Medvedev, September 18, 2008

BASICS

OF THE STATE POLICY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN THE ARCTIC

FOR THE PERIOD TILL 2020 AND FOR A FURTHER PERSPECTIVE

 

I. General Provisions

1.The present Basics determine main objectives, primary goals, strategic priorities and mechanisms of realization of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic and also the system of measures of strategic planning of the social and economic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and maintenance of national safety of Russia.

2. In the present Basics, the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation means a part of the Arctic which includes, in full or in part, the territories of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Murmansk and Arkhangelsk provinces, Krasnoyarsk territory, Nenets, Yamal-Nenets and Chukchi autonomous districts, established by the decision of the State Commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on Arctic affairs of April 22, 1989, and also areas and islands specified in the Decision of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of April 15, 1926 «On the announcement of areas and islands located in the Arctic Ocean as the territory of the USSR», and the internal maritime waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Russian Federation adjoining to such territories, areas and islands, within which Russia enjoys sovereign rights and jurisdiction under international law.

The limits of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation can be specified according to normative legal acts of the Russian Federation and norms of international treaties and agreements to which the Russian Federation is a party.

3. Specificities of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation influencing the formation of the state policy in the Arctic are as follows:

a) extreme natural-climatic conditions, including a permanent ice cover or drifting ices in the Arctic seas;

b) focal character of industrial-economic development of territories and a low population density;

c) remoteness from basic industrial centers, high resource consumption and dependence of economic activities and life-support of the population on deliveries of fuel, foodstuffs and essential commodities from other regions of Russia;

d) low sustainability of ecological systems determining the biological balance and climate of the Earth, and their dependence even on insignificant anthropogenous impacts.

II. National Interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic

4. The basic national interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic are:

a) use of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation as a strategic resource base of the Russian Federation providing the solution of problems of social and economic development of the country:

b) maintenance of the Arctic as a zone of peace and cooperation;

c) preservation of unique ecological systems of the Arctic;

d) use of the Northern Sea Route as a national single transport communication of the Russian Federation in the Arctic (further – the Northern Sea Route).

5. National interests determine basic objectives, primary goals and strategic priorities of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic. The realization of national interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic is provided by institutions of the state power together with institutions of the civil society in strict conformity with the legislation of the Russian Federation and its international treaties.

III. Basic Objectives and Strategic Priorities of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic

6. Basic objectives of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic are:

a) in the sphere of social and economic development – an expansion of the resource base of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation capable substantially to meet the requirement of Russia in hydrocarbon resources, water biological resources and other kinds of strategic raw materials;

b) in the sphere of military security, defense and protection of the state border of the Russian Federation lying in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation - maintenance of a favorable operative regime in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, including maintenance of a necessary fighting potential of groupings of general purpose armies (forces) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other armies, military formations and organs in this region;

c) in the sphere of environmental security – preservation and maintenance of environment protection of the Arctic, liquidation of ecological consequences of economic activities in the conditions of increasing economic activity and global changes of climate;

d) in the sphere of information technologies and communication – formation of a uniform information area of the Russian Federation in its Arctic zone taking into account natural specificities;

e) in the sphere of science and technology - maintenance of a sufficient level of fundamental and applied scientific researches on accumulation of knowledge and creation of modern scientific and geo-information bases of management of the Arctic territories, including working out of means for dealing with defense and security issues, and also reliable functioning of life-support systems and economic activity in the natural-climatic conditions of the Arctic;

f) in the sphere of international cooperation - maintenance of a mutually advantageous bilateral and multilateral cooperation treatment of the Russian Federation with the sub-Arctic states on the basis of international treaties and agreements to which the Russian Federation is a party.

7. Strategic priorities of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic are:

a) carrying out of an active interaction of the Russian Federation with the sub-Arctic states with a view of delimitation of maritime areas on the basis of norms of international law, mutual arrangements taking into account national interests of the Russian Federation, and also for tackling issues of an international legal substantiation of the external border of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation;

b) building-up of efforts of the sub-Arctic states for the creation of a uniform regional system of search and rescue, and also prevention of man-caused accidents and liquidation of their consequences, including coordination of activity of rescue forces;

c) strengthening, on a bilateral basis and within the framework of regional organizations, including the Arctic Council and the Barents/EuroArctic region Council, good-neighborhood of Russia with the sub-Arctic states, atomization of economic, scientific and technical, cultural interaction, and also frontier cooperation, including in the field of effective natural resources management and environment preservation in the Arctic;

d) assistance in the organization and effective utilization of transit and cross Polar air routes in the Arctic, and also in the use of the Northern Sea Route for international navigation under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and according to international treaties of the Russian Federation:

e) activization of the participation of Russian official agencies and public organizations in the work of international forums devoted to the Arctic problematic, including the inter-parliamentary interaction within the framework of the Russia - European Union partnership;

f) delimitation of maritime spaces in the Arctic Ocean and maintenance of a mutually advantageous presence of Russia on the Spitsbergen archipelago;

g) perfection of the system of state management of the social and economic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, including through expansion of fundamental and applied scientific researches in the Arctic;

h) improvement of quality of life of the indigenous population and social conditions of economic activities in the Arctic;

i) development of the resource base of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation through the use of perspective technologies;

j) modernization and development of the infrastructure of the Arctic transport system and the fisheries complex in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.

IV. Primary Goals and Measures on Realization of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic

8. Basic objectives of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic are realized through solution of the following main problems:

a) in the sphere of social and economic development it is necessary:

to carry out geologic-geophysical, hydrographic and cartographical works for preparation of materials in view of substantiation of the external border of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation;

to provide an essential increase of balance mineral resources of the Arctic sea deposits, including by realization of the governmental program of investigation and exploitation of the continental shelf of the Russian Federation, and also the beginning of works on development of oil and gas deposits in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation;

to carry out working out and introduction of new kinds of techniques and technologies for development of sea mineral deposits and water biological resources in the Arctic conditions, including in the areas covered with ice, to form a fleet of aircraft and fishery vessels and also a necessary supporting infrastructure for work in the conditions of the Arctic;

to optimize economic mechanisms of the "Northern delivery» through the use of renewed and alternative, including local, energy sources, reconstruction and modernization of power installations which have worked-out their resource, introduction of power saving materials and technologies;

to provide re-structuring of volumes of cargo transportation through the Northern Sea Route, including through the state support of construction of vessels of icebreaking, rescue and auxiliary fleets, and also the coastal infrastructure;

to form a system of monitoring over the maintenance of navigation safety, management of transportation flows in the areas of intensive navigation, including through the realization of a set of measures aimed at hydro meteorological and navigating maintenance in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation;

to create a complex safety system for protection of the territories, population and objects of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation which are crucial for the national security of the Russian Federation from threats of extreme situations of a natural and technogenic character.

The basic measures for the realization of the state policy in the field of social and economic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation are:

the state support of the managing subjects carrying out their activity in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, first of all in the sphere of development of resources of hydrocarbons, other minerals and water biological resources, through the introduction of innovative technologies, development of a transport and power infrastructure, perfection of tariff-customs and tax regulation;

stirring up the realization of new projects of economic development of the Arctic territories by their cofinancing from budgets of various levels of the budgetary system of the Russian Federation and off-budget sources, maintenance of the state guarantees of remuneration of labor, including at the realization of works by a shiftforwarding method;

modernization of objects of the social infrastructure, including establishments of education, public health and also development of housing construction, including within the framework of the realization of priority national projects;

maintenance of formation and retraining of specialists of the system of higher and average vocational education for work in the Arctic conditions, specification of the state social guarantees and indemnification for persons working and living in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation:

maintenance of availability and quality of health services for all groups of population living and working in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, including through expansion of the system of medical assistant's and first medical aid;

perfection of educational programs for the indigenous population of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, especially concerning preparation of children for a life in the modern society with high-grade development of skills of residing in an extreme natural environment, including equipment of educational institutions and distant settlements with means of remote training;

maintenance of a rational wildlife management and development of environmentally secure forms of tourism in places of compact residing and traditional managing of not numerous indigenous population, preservation of their cultural heritage and languages, national-art crafts;

b) in the sphere of military security, defense and protection of the state border of the Russian Federation lying in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, it is necessary:

to create groupings of armies (forces) of the general purpose of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other armies, military formations and organs (first of all, boundary organs) in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, capable to provide military security under various conditions of a military-political situation;

to optimize the system of a complex control over the situation in the Arctic, including the boundary control at the check points across the state border of the Russian Federation, introduction of a border zones regime in the administrative-territorial formations of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and the organization of a device technical control over the strait zones, rivers estuaries, firths on the itinerary of the Northern Sea Route;

to bring the possibilities of the boundary organs into line with the character of threats and challenges of the Russian Federation in the Arctic.

The basic measures on the realization of the state policy in the sphere of military security, defense and protection of the state border of the Russian Federation lying in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, are as follows:

creation of an actively functioning system of the coast guard of the Federal security service of the Russian Federation in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and increase of efficiency of interaction with boundary departments (coast guards) of the adjacent states concerning combating terrorism on the sea, suppression of illicit activity, illegal migration, protection of water biological resources;

development of a boundary infrastructure of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and technical reequipment of boundary organs;

creation of a system of the complex control over the surface situation, strengthening of the state control over trade activity in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation;

c) In the sphere of environmental security it is necessary:

to ensure preservation of the biological diversity of the Arctic florae and faunae, including by expansion of a network of especially protected natural territories and water areas, taking into account national interests of the Russian Federation, necessity of preservation of the natural environment in the conditions of expansion of economic activities and global climate changes;

to carry out a planned recycling of vessels with nuclear power installations which worked out the prescribed operation target terms.

The basic measures on the realization of the state policy in the sphere of maintenance of environmental security in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation are:

introduction of special regimes of wildlife management and protection of the natural environment in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, including monitoring of its pollution;

restoration of natural landscapes, recycling of toxic industrial wastes, maintenance of chemical safety, first of all in places of compact residing of the population;

d) In the sphere of information technologies and communication it is necessary:

To introduce modern information-telecommunication technologies and means (including mobile) of communications, tele - and radio broadcasting, control of maritime and air navigation, remote sounding of the Earth, carrying out of the area shootings of the ice cover, and also a system of hydro meteorological and hydrographic maintenance and maintenance of scientific expeditionary researches;

to create a reliable system of rendering of navigating, hydro meteorological and information services providing an effective control of economic, military, environmental activity in the Arctic, and also forecasting and prevention of emergency situations, minimization of damage in case of their occurrence, including through the use of global navigating satellite system GLONASS and multi-purpose space system.

The basic measures on the realization of the state policy in the sphere of information technologies and communication in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation should be directed on working out and wide use of the newest technologies, including space means of different functions and multiprocessing universal territorially distributed networks;

e) In the scientific and technical sphere it is necessary:

to introduce new technologies, including for clearing of the territories of islands, coastal zones and water areas of the Arctic seas of anthropogenous pollution, and also to develop materials adapted for natural –climatic conditions of the Arctic;

to provide realization of the government program of development of the scientific research fleet of the Russian Federation providing also investigations in the field of deep-water activity and hydronautics, including introduction of technical means and instrument base adapted for carrying out polar scientific investigations.

The basic measures on the realization of the state policy in the field of scientific researches and scientific maintenance of activity in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation are:

substantiation of long-term prospects and basic directions of development of various forms of activity in the Arctic;

studying of dangerous and crisis natural phenomena, working out and introduction of modern technologies and methods of their forecasting in the conditions of a varying climate;

forecast and estimation of consequences of global climatic changes occurring in the Arctic zone Russian Federations under the influence of natural and anthropogenous factors, in intermediate term and long-term prospect, including an increase of stability of objects of the infrastructure;

carrying out investigations in the field of history, culture and regional economy, and also legal regulation of activity in the Arctic;

studying of influence on health of the population of harmful environmental factors, development of requirements on health care of the population and polar explorers, substantiation of a set of actions directed on improvement of the inhabitancy of the population and diseases prevention.

9. The attainment of the primary goals of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic is realized within the framework of the strategic planning of social and economic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and maintenance of national security of Russia by:

a) working out and realization of the strategy of development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation taking into account problems of maintenance of national security;

b) creation of a complex system of monitoring, including perfection of the system of informationstatistical supervision over indicators of national security in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation;

c) preparation of normative legal acts of the Russian Federation concerning the specification of geographical limits of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, including its southern limits, and also a list and status of municipal entities within the limits of the above mentioned zone;

d) increase of the efficiency of management by the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.

V. Basic Mechanisms of Realization of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic

10. The state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic is carried out by means of a purposeful and cocoordinated activity of interested federal enforcement authorities, public authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation, local governments, commercial and noncommercial organizations according to their powers and spheres of activity on the principles of the state-private partnership, and also within the framework of cooperation of the Russian Federation with foreign states and the international organizations, including:

a) perfection, taking into account national interests of Russia and specificity of the region, of legislation of the Russian Federation in the spheres of social and economic development, preservation of the environment, military security, defense and protection of the border, carrying out of scientific researches and international cooperation in the Arctic on the basis of norms of international law and international obligations of the Russian Federation;

b) working out and realization of target programs financed at the expense of budgets of various levels of the budgetary system of the Russian Federation and off-budget sources;

c) working out by subjects of the Russian Federation, of strategies of social and economic development of subjects of the Russian Federation, schemes of territorial planning and programs of social and economic development;

d) highlight in mass media the questions connected with national interests of the Russian Federation in the Arctic, including organization of exhibitions, conferences, «round tables», devoted to history of development of the Arctic by Russian explorers, with a view of formation of a positive image of Russia;

e) organization of a system monitoring and the analysis of realization of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic.

VI. Realization of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic

11. The present Basics are realized stage by stage:

a) at the first stage (2008 - 2010), the following should be provided:

Carrying out of geologic-geophysical, hydrographic, cartographical and other works on preparation of materials for substantiation of the external border of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation;

expansion of possibilities of international cooperation, including for effective natural resources development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation;

realization of target programs financed at the expense of budgets of various levels of the budgetary system of the Russian Federation and off-budget sources, including formation of a government program of development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation for the period till 2020 in which frameworks hi-tech industrial-power and industrial-fisheries clusters, special economic zones will be created of a basis character;

realization of perspective investment projects within the framework of the state-private partnership, connected with strategic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation;

b) At the second stage (2011-2015), the following should be provided:

an international legal formation of the external border the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and realization on this basis of competitive advantages of Russia on exploitation and transportation of energy resources;

solution of problems of a structural reorganization of the economy in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation on the basis of development of a mineral-raw-material base and water biological resources of the region;

creation and development of the infrastructure and control system of communications of the Northern Sea Route for solving problems of maintenance of the Eurasian transit;

termination of the creation of a uniform information area of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation;

c) at the third stage (2016-2020), transformation of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation into a leading strategic resource base of the Russian Federation should be provided.

As a whole, in intermediate term, realization of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic will allow Russia to maintain the role of a leading Arctic power.

Further, it is necessary to carry out a complex building up of competitive advantages of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation with a view of strengthening positions of Russia in the Arctic, consolidation of international security, maintenance of the peace and stability in the Arctic region.