Yury Trutnev Inspects International Arctic Forum Exhibition
Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev familiarized himself with the leading Arctic developments and investment projects on display at the 5thInternational Arctic Forum in St. Petersburg.
“The International Arctic Forum got under way today. Russian projects already being implemented and others still at the development stage are being presented here. This is an important indicator of the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of the Russian Arctic”, Trutnev said.
Regions of the Russian Arctic are participating in the exhibition. The Sakha Republic (Yakutia) presented the outline for a high-tech shipyard in Zhatay. More detailed information about arctic investment projects is accessible through a multimedia map. The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is creating awareness about the construction of the Novy Urengoy Airport and the Northern Latitudinal Railway. Acting Governor of the Murmansk Region Andrei Chibis was at his regions stand to talk about projects aimed at developing infrastructure for providing offshore hydrocarbon production, transport and energy infrastructure, and the resource base and production facilities of existing mining and ship repair enterprises. He mentioned that new mining, chemical, and metallurgical production facilities and coastal fish processing and aquaculture enterprises were being built in the region and that the fishing fleet was being updated.
At the St. Petersburg stand, Yuri Trutnev and Acting Governor Alexander Beglov familiarized themselves with samples of Arctic equipment and models of ice-class vessels for the development of the northern territories. The Deputy Prime Minister was also brought up to speed on achievements made by St. Petersburg agronomists in the cultivation of plant varieties with high yields in Arctic station growing conditions.
Trutnev visited the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation stand, which is dedicated to the Northern Sea Route. At present, approximately 20 million tonnes of cargo are transported via the Northern Sea Route annually. In the coming years, transportation through this artery looks to grow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has set the goal of increasing the volume of freight traffic to 80 million tonnes by 2024. According to Trutnev, upgrading Atomflot's capacity is a major priority. Three new nuclear ice-breakers are being built at the Baltic Shipyard. The construction of more vessels of this kind is planned for the near future. The creation of new Leader class ice-breakers for year-round navigation is expected soon. “This is technology of another class. There are no other ice-breakers of this kind. A whole series is under construction, with a new ice-breaker to be released each year for the development of the Northern Sea Route”, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
The exhibition area included pavilions from Gazprom PJSC, Novatek PJSC, MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC, Concern VKO Almaz– Antey JSC, and the Damen Shipyards among others. The Deputy Prime Minister considers support for investment projects to be another area for developing the Russian Arctic. “At present, we are developing a system of preferences to provide support for investment projects in the Arctic region. Furthermore, we intend to extend the support system that operates in the Far East to the Arctic. Each project will receive individual support. We are already supporting major projects right now. But support measures for the Arctic need to be expanded. The
Arctic is a more complex region than the Far East. The climatic conditions here are especially challenging, and there is practically no infrastructure”, Trutnev said.
Research and development institutes presented their projects. The Bauman Moscow State Technical University stand hosted 25 copy scale models of the high-speed amphibious VSA-500 with a carrying capacity of up to 300 tonnes, the fiber-optic security system VOLKODAV, a multi-purpose amphibious arctic machine for working in hard-to-reach remote areas, a working remote-controlled underwater complex, snowmobile motorcycles, underwater robots with systems for monitoring the technical condition of hull structures of ships and underwater facilities, and models of other devices. The Central Research Institute of Automation and Hydraulics JSC stand had a model of the control post of a ship moving along a narrow sea channel with the support of the Autonomous Radio Navigation System (ARNAS). This system guarantees high-precision navigation support of the vessel regardless of the quality of satellite navigation system signals, which is demonstrated by a video recording of the modeled movement of the vessel and the corresponding indication of onboard equipment. The ‘Kurchatov Institute’ NRC developed models for the following projects: the Arkhangelsk production and logistics complex, the kilowatt-level power generating unit using renewable energy sources and electrochemical fuel elements, and a layout of an autonomous eco-settlement.
“We see an interest in the Forum. Delegations from more than 12 countries are taking part. I am sure that the two days of the Forum will be productive”, Trutnev concluded.
The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, and Rosmolodezh also presented exhibits. The exhibition programme of the International Arctic Forum also included cultural and historical projects. The Arkhangelsk Region presented a Library of the Russian North collection, which included the best pre-revolutionary publications on the history of the region.