Participants announced for International Arctic Forum 2019 Youth Day business programme

The speakers for the International Arctic Forum Youth Day business programme have been published on the Forum’s official website. The discussions on the sidelines of the Forum will be attended by representatives of the government as well as scientific and business communities.

The first session of the business programme ‘The Involvement of Young People in Environmental Initiatives to Support Sustainable Development in the Arctic’ will be moderated by Dmitry Fishkin, the Deputy Director of the Department of Public Policy and Regulation for Hydrometeorology and the Study of the Arctic, Antarctic, and the World Ocean at the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment. Speakers include: Ilya Dunichkin, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Urban Development at the National Research Moscow State University of Civil Engineering; Ildar Neverov, Chairman of the Committee for Ecology at Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia); and Olga Shtemberg, Chairperson of the Committee for Supporting Entrepreneurship in the Field New Quality of Life and Sustainable Development at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. 

Vice President, National Research Centre ”Kurchatov Institute” Oleg Naraikin will lead a discussion on alternative energy. Speakers will include President of the Russian Hydrometeorological Society Alexander Bedritsky and President of the National Research Centre ”Kurchatov Institute”  Mikhail Kovalchuk. 

Several representatives of Gazprom will take part in a discussion on the prospects for the development of oil and gas fields in the Arctic: speakers will include officials from Gazprom VNIIGAZ, Gazprom Neft Shelf, Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg, Gazprom Dobycha Shelf Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and Gazpromneft-Sakhalin. The session will be moderated by Alexander Oganov, Director of the Oil and Gas Well Drilling Department at Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (National Research University).

The session ‘Bringing Together Young People in the Arctic: Opportunities for Personal Development and Career Growth’ will address the issue of ensuring the Arctic region has young professional staff and creating suitable conditions for the professional and social self-fulfilment of young people. Speakers will include: Nina Veysalova, the First Vice President of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON); Advisor to the Rector, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia; Andrey Platonov, Deputy Director of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh); and Artur Chilingarov, Special Presidential Representative for International Cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic and the President of the Association of Polar Explorers. 

Developing the region’s infrastructure in the conditions of the extreme north is one of the key issues on the Forum’s business agenda. Adviser to the Chief Executive Officer, Atomflot Leonid Irlitsa and Director of Strategy and Development, Rusatom Infrastructure Solutions Anton Zubkov will help search for solutions for the full-fledged provision of access routes for ports and the Northern Sea Route. During the discussion ‘Supporting Young Enterprise in the Arctic’, 

participants will discuss the creation of a unified mechanism to support youth projects for the 

development of the region. The key session speakers will include Director of the Russian Youth Business Assistance Center Anatoly Zorin, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Arkhangelsk Region Viktor Ikonnikov, Director General of the Agency for Investment Development of Sakha (Yakutia) Alexander Kondrashin, and Vice President of Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia) Nikolay Ostarkov.

The training of skilled personnel and the development of modern educational infrastructure in the Arctic region also plays an important role in terms of developing the Northern Sea Route and meeting the needs of international business partners. Participants in the discussion ‘The Development of a Social Model for People’s Presence in the Region’ will include Chair of the Board of the Council of the Youth Socio-Economic Initiatives All-Russian Union of Public Associations Larisa Pastukhova, Head of Direction for Partner Relationships, ANO Russia - a Land of Opportunity Anton Serikov, and Deputy Vice Rector for International Activities, Maritime State University Named After Admiral G.I. Nevelskoy Ekaterina Sokolova.