A Question of Survival

A Northerner ORTHERNER MUST NOT BE A BURDEN

Arthur Chilingarov,
Deputy Chairman of the State Duma

         The Arctic region, two-thirds of which is occupied by Russia's northern territories is of great importance to our country. However, at present the country seems to be loosing its northern regions: their infrastructure is falling into decay, and its population is leaving its cities and settlements. In this way, we lose not just a territory, but also the northerners who are people of a very special generation.
        Through newspapers, radio and TV we often hear of frozen settlements, tankers stuck in the ice, vessels damaged in storms, and of people being evacuated from remote areas. This has never occurred before.
        This is happening because economic policy has not paid attention to the special conditions of the North. Every year the state has been financing less and less the delivery of goods to the North and does not send even minimum amounts of money in time. Despite numerous propositions, no effective system of financing has been created that is able to account for market mechanisms and finance the delivery of products to the North.
        It is a matter of principle that northerners not be a burden. These regions hold 40 percent of the planet's northern forests, 40 percent of the world's nickel and platinum metals (this is only counting developed deposits), 50 percent of the Earth's palladium, 42 percent of the total gas reserves, and 13 percent of the oil in the planet.
        Northerners make a significant contribution to the country's economy. They produce 20 percent of the national income and 60 percent of the country's exports. They extract 92 percent of the country's gas, almost 80 percent of the oil, 90 percent of the nickel and practically all the gold, silver, tin, apatite concentrates, mercury, molybdenum, diamonds, and precious stones. The North produces almost all of the country's fur-skins, sea and river fish, and 50 percent of the timber. Both the present and the future of Russia along with the success of its market reforms depend on the North. The Russian North has a great strategic significance. In fact, whoever controls the Arctic controls the entire Northern Hemisphere.
        Today work is being undertaken on the northern continental shelf, which should provide new sources of oil and gas for the country. This work must promote the development of the ocean's mineral resources, provide the Russian Federation with raw materials presently in deficit and preserve nonrenewable resources for the future.
        This work will also contribute to the solution of social problems in those territories using and processing extracted minerals, specially in the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, the Nenets Autonomous Area, the Taimyr Peninsula, the Yamalo-Nenets Area, the Chukchi Peninsula, and in other regions of the North.
        The Northern Sea Route will contribute to the rapid development of new deposits, to oil and gas exports and to safe transportation links and cargo deliveries to the North.
        Various mechanisms and systems of supply have been tested in the North during these last years. This was financed by state structures that took no particular interest in the issues at hand or in the use of the modern market strategies, which could help solve the problems of the Russian North.
        I believe these problems could be solved through the creation of a Northern Sea Route public and private corporation that would use new financial means for cargo deliveries to the North. With this I mean, the creation of a specialized commercial bank, and the attraction of non-governmental suppliers, transportation companies and northern consumers. The creation of a Northern Sea Route public and private corporation would help minimize budget expenditures, as state levers would be enacted together with market mechanisms.
        I know my opinion is controversial because many doubt that it is possible at present to consolidate the many Arctic industrial organizations and subjects of the Russian Federation adjoining the Northern Sea.
        However, this task must not be postponed. We can hardly hope that dialogue between Arctic organizations, commercial structures, subjects of the Russian Federation, and those who use the Northern Sea Route, may lead to positive results. This problem calls for radical measures. We must use the experience gained by the chief administration of the Northern Sea Route, as well as apply market mechanisms to the maximum.
        I am quite positive that we need to adopt federal laws concerning the Northern Sea Route. These laws must establish the rules for domestic and foreign ships, control the activity on the Northern Sea Route, and regulate the work of the different ministries and administrations responsible for the Route's activity.