Last November, at the St. Petersburg Forum on the Northern Territories, Sergey Frank, Minister of Transportation of the Russian Federation, declared the Northern Sea Route, together with the Trans-Siberian Route, as very important for Russia. They connect the Russian Far East with the country's western regions. At the same time, the Minister noted that the North Sea Route is the shortest waterway between Northwest Europe, the Asian Pacific region and the western coast of the US and Canada.
        Sergey Frank said it is no coincidence that everything related to the Northern Sea Route plays an important role in Russia's national transportation policy. Despite the country's budget difficulties, this policy strives to improve and develop the material, technical and organizational foundations of the Arctic marine transportation system, making it more attractive to its body of customers.
        At the Forum, the Minister said our main task is to create the necessary conditions in the infrastructure to revive the economy and social life of the Far North, stimulating its stable development. This is obviously a national priority. Yet we must not forget the international component of this problem. Russia began to integrate the Northern Sea Route with the world transportation system in 1991, officially announcing that conditions for international navigation along the Northern Sea Route had been prepared. At the International Eurasian Transportation Conference in May 1998, the Northern Sea Route was declared an independent Eurasian transportation corridor.
        During the preparation stage of the II International Eurasian Conference, we asked the Minister several questions about the present and future of the Northern Sea Route. Here are Sergey Frank's answers:
        -What measures should be taken to provide the stable and safe operation of the Northern Sea Route?
        It is important to keep the integrity of national transportation under state control. Having this in mind, we need to provide for the construction of a new generation of icebreakers. Until they are ready, we must work on extending the service of existing atomic icebreakers. This will allow us to use them for an additional 4 - 6 years. The improvement of the Northern Sea Route's material and technical foundation means incorporating special ice-class ships into the Arctic marine transportation system. These ships will provide the movement of oil and gas from new deposits on the Arctic coast and sea shelf. They will also deliver cargo to the population, the industrial enterprises and the transportation base operating in the area. In some territories of the Russian Federation, sea transportation is the only means of carrying the bulk of cargo.
        The Ministry of Transportation has developed measures that will facilitate the construction of the 50 YEARS TO VICTORY atomic icebreaker in St. Petersburg by the year 2004. We have also taken another important decision together with Russia's Minatom: the Marine Fleet's Central Research Institute together with the Krylov Institute have been asked to prepare the project for the construction of new generation icebreakers and a new 25 megawatt diesel/electric icebreaker.
        OAO Lucoil has already finished in Germany the construction of five ice-class tankers with a capacity of 16.000 tons. We have signed a contract with the Admiralty Shipyards (St. Petersburg) for the construction of five more UL ice-class tankers with a capacity of 20.000 tons. In March this year, we raised the Russian national flag on the Astrakhan - the leading ship in this tanker series. MANAS is the name of the next tanker to come into service. The construction of the other tankers in the series will be completed by 2002. The great advantage for Russia is that it will no longer have to lease foreign tankers for the transportation of Arctic oil products.
        Russia's economic needs are the most important reason for preserving and developing the Northern Sea Route, at a time when resource extraction and primary processing in the Far North has become dislocated. The Northern regions hold a vast supply of energy, mineral and forest resources. Their extraction and processing will fulfill both domestic and international needs.
        - Can the Arctic transportation system become self-supporting?
        Up until the end of the 80s, the Arctic transportation system was self-supporting. The volume of sea traffic reached 7 million tons in 1987. In order to achieve self-sufficiency we must raise the volume of cargo along the Northern Sea Route up to 10 million tons. This volume is likely to be reached by 2008 - 2010.
        -Is cargo traffic possible on the Northern Sea Route between the ports of Western Europe, North America, the Far East and South East Asia? Is it possible to transport Russian metals and fertilizers abroad through the Northern Sea Route, without using the Suez Canal? This way we could secure an income of hundreds of millions of dollars.
        In 1993 - 1997 the volume of sea cargo along the Northern Sea Route was already 150 - 200 thousand tons a year. Cargo traffic peaked in 1993, during the Arctic's summer shipping season. During that period, 15 Russian ships with 210 thousand tons of transit goods passed along the Route. Also, 8 ships carrying metals, fertilizers and timber traveled from ports in Russia, Latvia, Sweden and Finland to China, Japan, and Thailand. 7 ships from China carried oilcake, bauxite, magnetite and other operating supplies to Holland, England, Ireland, Germany, and Spain.         In regards to your second question, experience from past shipping seasons shows that, provided there is proper icebreaker escort, 25 - 30 ships can cross the Route during the Arctic's summer navigation period (from the end of June to the end of November). This means 350 - 400 thousand tons of cargo including Russian metals and fertilizers for export.
        -Do you consider the Northern Sea Route an independent transportation corridor?
        In May 1998, during the International Eurasian Transportation Conference in St. Petersburg, the Northern Sea Route was declared an independent Eurasian transportation corridor.
        In 1995, a ship with scientists from Japan, Russia, Norway, and Canada traveled along the Northern Sea Route from the port of Yokohama (Japan) to the port of Kirkines (Norway). The scientists observed the resistance of the ship's body in the ice under conditions of both independent sailing and icebreaker escorting. They concluded that ships like the KANDALAKSHA were suitable for voyages along the Northern Sea Route.
        In the future, the Northern Sea Route will be used in two ways. First, it should cater to the economic development of Russia's Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. Second, it should provide international trans-oceanic cargo transportation.
        We think that profits from the Northern Sea Route may amount to more than 200 million dollars. However, the reorientation of cargo traffic will require significant efforts. Certain political decisions will be needed because the interests of Ukraine and the Baltic countries will be affected.
        Last November in Oslo, with the initiative of Norway and Japan, the conference took place under the motto "The Northern Sea Route: the XXI century's route". The conference summarized the results of the international Northern Sea Route (INSROP) project for the years 1993 - 1995. More than 450 scientists and other specialists from 14 countries participated in the research work. They concluded that the Route is appropriate for international commercial shipping from a technical, economic and ecological point of view.