In the Arctic comfortable conditions for life must be created, investment attracted for economic growth and research and environmental infrastructures developed, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told the International Arctic Forum on Thursday.
"First and foremost, the issue of the day is creating a high quality, comfortable environment for people and taking care of the traditions and economic lifestyles of the indigenous and minority peoples in the Arctic. We are obliged to take into account their identity in developing the social sphere, education, and health care, and in shaping the information environment," Putin said.
Secondly, in his view, "support must be furnished for the new points of economic growth, and large-scale domestic and foreign investment attracted."
"I want to emphasize this: not a single industrial project in Russia’s Arctic will be realized without respect for the most stringent environmental requirements. This is a high-principled position. We shall remain committed to this benchmark in the development of the Yamal Peninsula and the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea, in the development of the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and in Yakutia, and at hundreds of other industrial and infrastructure facilities, yet to be created by the government and businesses," Putin said.
He recalled that according to experts, "in 50 years’ time the Arctic may become a major source of energy and a key transportation hub on the globe."
"But the price tag attached to the Arctic issue is much higher than billions of barrels of oil or cubic meters of gas, which have been talked about so much. As a result of an irresponsible attitude to the Arctic we shall get not new global advantages, but global problems," Putin said. Therefore, in his opinion, "the basic task for all Arctic states now is widespread introduction of resource-wise break-through technologies that can work in harmony with nature."
"Russia is proposing an active exchange of ideas, innovations, and practical experience. This will help us work together to find technological and engineering solutions that are optimal for use in the Far North," he said.
The third priority is "tangible investment of funds into scientific environmental infrastructures," said Putin. "We plan to hold all-out cleaning of our Arctic territories. In the literal sense, we are to remove the dumps that have cropped up and grown for decades around transpolar towns and villages, facilities extracting mineral deposits, military bases, ports and airfields in the tundra, and on islands and in the Arctic Ocean. Simultaneously, the number of national parks and reserves will increase. For example, last year we opened a new national park, called The Russian Arctic, on the islands of Novaya Zemlya archipelago," he said.
"Yesterday I spoke with Prince Albert II, of Monaco, and he asked me about the area of the park. It's almost 1.5 million hectares, which is comparable to Monaco itself," Putin said, prompting a smile from Albert II, a renowned researcher of the Arctic, sitting next.
Putin recalled that Russian explorers ventured into the seas of the Arctic Ocean as early as 11th century and almost every subsequent century they mapped new routes there.
"Vast Russian territories lie in the North. Russia is a northern country, 70 percent of our territory is in the north – just stop for a moment to think about that. History and geography have put before our people the task of cultivating and taking care of these lands," he said.