Russia should be more active on Svalbard
Russia needs to lead economic activity on Svalbard in order to secure its national interests on the archipelago says Head of the Federation Council’s Committee on the North. Preparatory work on the planned Russian fish processing factory in Barentsburg will start this year.
On a roundtable conference on Russian national interests on Svalbard, Gennady Oleynik, Head of the Federation Council’s Committee on the North, urged for accelerated development of Russian economic activity on the archipelago, Rosbalt.ru reports.
According to Oleynik, as long as Russia was actively leading economic operations on Svalbard, there was no question about Russian presence on the archipelago. They emerged first when Russia reduced the country’s level of activity.
Oleynik thinks Russia should develop tourism, research and fisheries on Svalbard. The archipelago offers unique opportunities for these activities, Oleynik claims. He recommends that activity should be boosted by joint private and state partnerships and with state support to persons and organizations who are interested in working in the Arctic. As an example he mentions Norway, who has tax privileges for all working and living on Svalbard.
As BarentsObserver earlier reported, Russian authorities plan to build a fish processing factory in the Russian settlement of Barentsburg. The Russian Fishery Agency yesterday published a federal order for preparatory work for the factory. The tender has a 4.5 million RUB price frame and includes scientific research on the state of Russian fisheries in the area and a pilot plan for the factory, the Fishery Agency writes on its web pages.
Head of the Russian Fisheries Committee Andrey Krayny has said that the factory will be built by Norwegian specialists. The reason for this is that Norway has very strict environmental regulations, and it is easier for Norwegians to follow these rules accurately.
