Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District to create Arctic cluster to diversify economy

The authorities of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District-Yugra will establish a cluster that aims to create conditions to develop Arctic projects, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District-Yugra Governor Natalya Komarova told a TASS news agency correspondent in an interview.

“In accordance with the diversification strategy, we have established five clusters. They have no relation to the fuel and energy sector. In addition, we are in the process of launching another new one. It aims to create conditions for the development of Arctic projects, from technology and equipment to the training of personnel”, she said without providing a timeline for the project’s implementation.

Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District-Yugra Deputy Governor and Economic Development Department Director Pavel Sidorov said the region has the potential to establish the new “Engineering and Technologies for the North” inter-sectoral cluster.

“It includes activities that aim to implement the strategic vision of Yugra as a technological bridgehead of Russia for the development of the North and the Arctic”, he said.

The cluster will become an inter-sectoral entity and feature specialized activities in the following sectors: the ecology of the North; the development and introduction of machinery and technologies for “green” oil production; the manufacturing of specialized machinery for the conditions of the North and Arctic; the production of certain types of foods, including foods with the “North” brand; extreme, ecological and educational tourism; the pooling of ideas about methods for supporting vital activities in extreme conditions, including based on the experience of the indigenous minorities of the North; and scientific support for the advanced development of machinery and technologies for the conditions of the North and Arctic.