Three northern Karelia districts could join Arctic zone

This proposal was made at a meeting chaired by Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the North-West Federal District Nikolai Tsukanov for the executive authorities of eight of Russia’s Arctic regions, experts, and representatives of the scientific community. The meeting was devoted to the fourth International Arctic Forum, which will take place in Arkhangelsk on March 29–30.

Tsukanov reported that the federal government is planning to approve a new version of the State Programme for the Development of the Russian Arctic, the vse.karelia.ru portal reports.

For their part, the representatives of the North-West regions spoke about the need to adopt a federal law on the Arctic. They believe such a document could serve as the foundation for improving the living standards of people residing in Arctic territories.

The scientific community also asked the plenipotentiary to grant St. Petersburg, with its first-rate research school and Arctic-based enterprises, the status of the administrative centre of Russia’s Arctic zone. Tsukanov promised to present the regions’ positions at a meeting of the State Commission for Arctic Development that will be held as part of the Arctic Forum.

The country’s constituent entities in the Arctic zone along with Karelia and St. Petersburg were instructed to work on existing ideas for their future use in the State Programme and regulatory documents.

“For Karelia, it’s important to include three of our northern districts in the Arctic zone: Belomorsky, Kemsky, and Loukhsky. This will make it possible to obtain additional funding from the federal budget for their development”, Karelia Prime Minister Oleg Telnov said.