Speech at Meeting of the Russian
Security Council on Protecting
Russias
National Interests in the Arctic
September 17, 2008
The
Kremlin,
Moscow
PRESIDENT OF
RUSSIA
DMITRY MEDVEDEV:
Colleagues, on the agenda today is the issue of Russias
state policy in the Arctic. It
is no exaggeration to say that this region has strategic importance for our
country and that its development has a direct bearing on our efforts to
implement our long-term national development goals and make our country
competitive on global markets.
According to the information we
have, this region accounts for around 20 percent of Russias
gross domestic product and 22 percent of our national exports. Mining of rare
and precious metals is one of the most highly developed sectors in the Arctic
region. The region is also home to such major oil and gas producing areas as
the West-Siberian, Timano-Pecherskaya and
East-Siberian fields. Experts estimate that the Arctic continental shelf could
contain around a quarter of the worlds hydrocarbon resources. Use of these
energy resources, these resources, is the guarantee of Russias
overall security and energy security.
The transcontinental Arctic
Sea Route is another of the Arctic regions
assets. This route can connect European, Far-Eastern and river transport
routes, thereby making it possible to reduce transport costs and substantially
increase business ties between Russian businesses and their foreign
partners.
I stress that these huge investment
and economic opportunities are still only potential for now. Development of the
Arctic region is hampered by poorly developed economic infrastructure and
unresolved social problems, including a lack of affordable passenger transport
and a severe housing shortage. A look at the figures says it all: there are
650,000 people on the waiting list for housing subsidies in this region. As a
result, people continue to leave the far northern regions and there is a
serious depopulation problem there.
Our biggest task now is to turn the Arctic into Russias
resource base for the twenty-first century. Reaching this goal requires us
first to resolve a whole number of specific issues. The main issue is that of
reliably protecting our national interests in the region.
We need a solid legal and regulatory
framework for our activities in the Arctic. We
need, above all, to finalise and adopt the federal
law on the Russian Arctic zones southern border. A treaty fixing in law our
external border on the continental shelf is also on the upcoming agenda. This
is a very important task.
I stress that this is our obligation
and quite simply our duty to our descendants. We must ensure reliable
protection in the long term for Russias
national interests in the Arctic.
Second, we need to reduce the development gap between these regions and other
regions.
Considerable amounts of federal
money, including through a number of federal targeted programmes,
have been put into the northern regions. But there are still problems with
ensuring this money is spent rationally and invested in genuinely effective
production and creating new jobs. It is also clear that budget money alone
cannot resolve the Arctics
problems. What we need here above all is to harmoniously combine the
possibilities of the state, business community, and local self-government. I
draw the federal and regional authorities attention to the need to use modern
economic methods and mechanisms in this area.
Modernising the
transport infrastructure is one of our most urgent priorities. The lack of
roads, local air transport links (which for the most part have broken down in
the post-Soviet period), modern river and sea ports
and an ageing fleet, including the icebreaker fleet that is so important in
this region, is a real obstacle for developing the Arctics
rich investment potential.
Technical modernisation of airports is a key issue in this context. Air transport is practically the
only type of transport link for remote districts. One solution is to develop
competition in the domestic air transport market. At the same time, some groups
of the population and non-profitable transport segments cannot get by without
support measures, especially in the Far North.
Furthermore, the Arctic
Sea Route is one of the main links in the
Arctic transport system. It plays a crucial part in ensuring timely delivery of
needed supplies to the Far North. We know that there are still problems in this
area and we need to work not just on restoring freight volumes to former levels
but also on increasing them further through development of natural resources
and products manufactured by processing companies. The Arctic
Sea Route needs to be modernised with an up-to-date navigation, search and rescue system. We need to expand the
network of ports, use ships sailing under the Russian flag and work in general
on developing this route as one of the countrys strategic national main
transport routes.
The transport component of
developing hydrocarbon deposits and exporting them by sea also needs to be made
more efficient.
Resolving the regions environmental
problems is another priority we need to keep working on, including by
implementing the agreements reached at international forums such as the G8
summit in Hokkaido.
Protecting the environment and
developing eco-tourism are among the conditions for preserving the indigenous
northern peoples way of life, and we must not forget about developing the
indigenous peoples culture and traditional industries and crafts.
Finally, developing the social
sector is a key task. It is extremely important now to give the people in the
Arctic region the modern communications and technology they need to get access
to better education, professional training and leisure opportunities. We need
to take active steps to equip educational establishments with modern technology,
the latest communications systems and the Internet, and we have already begun
this work. And, particularly important in this region, we need to ensure that
healthcare institutions there have telemedicine equipment.
I hope the results of todays Security
Council meeting will form the foundation for effective
work together in our countrys Arctic regions.
Thank you for your attention.
