Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Naryshkin attracted Norwegian attention to the Russian presence in Spitzbergen.
Photo: Vasily Alexandrov
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Russian Delegation Visits Spitzbergen
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Naryshkin led a government delegation that visited Spitzbergen on Friday. It was the first Russian delegation to visit the area since 1920. Norwegian Minister of Justice and the Police Knut Storberget met the Russian delegation there. “Spitzbergen is a strategic point that allows us to maintain a presence in the Western part of the Arctic. Under the conditions of the agreement, we have to carry out economic activity here. With financing from the state for the infrastructure, we would like to find forms of activity that would support themselves,” Naryshkin told Kommersant.
It is difficult to find economic activities fitting to the Arctic climate. Russia has the right to maintain its presence there under the Paris Treaty of 1920, which also confirmed Norway's sovereignty there. In 1931, the USSR began coal mining on the archipelago. The state trust Artktikugol has three mines on 251 sq. km. of land in Spitzbergen. Coal produced there has the world's highest sulfur content (4 percent) and it has never been profitable.
Only one mine is still in operation, manned mainly by Ukrainian citizens. It produces 120,000 tons of coal per year, and uses 40,000 tons of it for its own needs. Funding for the mine will be raised from 700 million rubles this year to 870 million rubles next year, with 764 million rubles going directly to Arktikugol to be spent both for technical and social needs.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 15, 2007
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