VI International Forum «Arctic: the Present and the Future»

On December 5-9, 2016 the VI International Forum «Arctic: Today and the Future», was held in St. Petersburg. The Forum is organized by Interregional Public Organization "Association of Polar Explorers" (ASPOL).

As it was noted in the address of Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Commission on the Development of the Arctic Dmitry Rogozin to the forum participants, the strategic importance of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation as a macro-region is growing and with it the Arctic agenda is expanding. Therefore, the Russian public authorities need the assistance of society and business in the area of improving the legislative framework and development of programs in the Arctic. The proposals developed during the Forum, will be integrated into the work of the State Commission on the Development of the Arctic and can become the basis for new legislation, concluded the Vice Premier. Chairman of the Council of Federation Valentina Matvienko, welcoming the participants of the Forum, stressed the necessity to make proposals that will allow to balance business interests and the preservation of the Arctic.

A key theme of the Forum in 2016 became the improvement of legislation of the Arctic. Given the scale of northern projects, the region needs in the system of normative and legal support. Deputy of the State Duma, President of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East of the Russian Federation Grigorii Ledkov reported at the Forum that nowadays the legal framework is lagging behind the real situation in the Arctic.

Regional subject on the Forum was associated with the concept of the formation of supporting zones in the Arctic, which has become the embodiment of the project approach adopted in this year as a priority at the governmental level. According to Deputy Director of the Department of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Dmitry Fishkin, the Arctic is an ideal testing ground for this mechanism. The concept of supporting zones is the core of the bill on the development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation prepared by the Ministry. For today there are eight supporting zones in accordance with the number of Arctic regions. As part of this concept the regional models were presented by the Deputy Governors of the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, Nenets and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Districts, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

During the sections of the Forum the participants discussed the most topical issues on various thematic areas concerning the Arctic zone. Among them there were the transport system and energy projects, Economics, human resources, Arctic engineering, preservation of the Arctic ecology, support of the peoples of the North and others.

The signing of cooperation agreements were held on the Forum. IPO "Association of Polar Explorers" and the Fund "Public opinion" agreed to support the research projects and joint research work. International Telecommunications Academy and Forum «Arctic: Today and the Future» have signed a Memorandum on cooperation on the Arctic agenda. Forum Partner Norilsk Nickel JSC and the Government of the Omsk region have signed the Roadmap of the project, which provides the use of high-tech products of Omsk manufacturers on the enterprises of Norilsk Nickel. ANO "Strategic partnership "North-West" and the Russian Agency of support of small and medium business entered into an agreement.

During the Exhibition there were presented the technologies that can be applied under harsh conditions. In general, the Forum was attended by over 1,400 participants.

Official partner of the Forum is the First Arctic consortium consisting of Oboronlogistika LLC, Sovfraht JSC and FESCO Group.

Forum Partners are: Gazprom Neft PJSC, MMC Norilsk Nickel JSC, Fertoing, Ltd., Onego Shipping.