The fisheries sector in Murmansk is looking forward to the possibility of delivering fish to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, something they have not been able to do since the Soviet times:
- This would be great, says Yury Zadvorny, Director of the Murmansk-based fishing company Murmanseld-2. – Not only would it mean a considerable improvement of the miners’ diet, it would also confirm the interdisciplinary aspect of working in the Arctic. – Any contact with Svalbard will demonstrate the ties between Russia and the archipelago, something I believe is the right thing to do at the moment, Zadvorny said according to GTRK Murman.
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Russia is planning to increase its presence on Svalbard. In May 2011 BarentsObserver reported that Russia was rushing to prepare a strategy on who to achieve this goal. The strategy was supposed to be ready by June 10, but there have been no news about the program after this.
There are some 400 Russians living on Svalbard, which has a total population of approximately 2700. Most of the Russians are employed in the state company Arktikugol’s coal mines.
