Russian Official Sees Murmansk as Sole ‘Gateway to Arctic’

MOSCOW, May 5 (RIA Novosti) – The port of Murmansk should be the sole holder of a special status as Russia’s “Gateway to the Arctic,” Murmansk governor Marina Kovtun said Monday at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We certainly hope and believe that the port of Murmansk will remain the sole wielder of the 'Gateway to the Arctic' status ... because we have all the necessary conditions. We are now training personnel, both oil-field workers and drillers, with an aim of developing the Arctic shelf," Kovtun said.

Kovtun also mentioned a number of companies that are interested in developing the Murmansk Transport Hub, including Rosneft, Gazprom and Bashneft.

Kovtun recalled that the contractor for the project was selected in March as a result of trading, and that agreements were signed April 22 with all participants of the project: the private investor Sea Commercial Port Lavna, Rostransmodernizatsiya and the government of the Murmansk region.

Lavna intends to invest 17.6 billion rubles in the construction of a coal terminal with a capacity of 18 million tons, and the government is to invest about 62 billion rubles on infrastructure work, including railway construction and dredging.

"We saved some money as a result of trading, the price of the contract dropped from 43 billion to 41 billion rubles," the governor said. The main private investor, Kuzbassrazrezugol (KRU), will build a coal terminal with a capacity of 18 million tons at the confluence in the Kola Bay, she added.

Talking about the problem of coal dust, the governor noted that a major environmental program is being developed. “We are aware of this problem. We will sign an agreement with the Siberian Coal Energy Company, the owner of the port … to ensure they would run a major environmental program. This is important for people; they are paying attention to it and force the authorities to react. So we have no other choice,” Kovtun said.

Arctic territories are believed to hold vast untapped reserves of oil and gas. They have increasingly been at the center of disputes between the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark as rising temperatures lead to a reduction in sea ice and make energy reserves more accessible.

At a meeting of the country’s Security Council on April 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated the country is actively developing the region to protect its national security and economic interests.

The Defense Ministry has already announced plans to reopen airfields and ports on the New Siberian Islands and the Franz Josef Land archipelago, as well as at least seven airstrips on the continental part of the Arctic Circle that were mothballed in 1993.