Ratification hearings in mid-March
Barents Sea delimitation treaty with Norway will be discussed in Russia’s State Duma next month.
The exact date is not set, but a Duma deputy from Murmansk says to Nord-News that mid-March will be the time for the first hearings.
Mikhail Nenashev says the ratification is an important event and the discussions in the parliament will be attended by representatives from both Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, the fishing communities and leading maritime organizations.
BarentsObserver reported last week that the documents attached to the treaty were sent to the Duma by President Dmitri Medvedev. The President strongly recommended the Duma to ratify the treaty finally setting the sea border with Norway in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Oceans.
The Norwegian Storting ratified the border deal unanimously on February 8th.
See slide-show from the signing ceremony of the sea border treaty in Murmansk last October.
