In an article published at Gazeta.ru, Governor Dmitriyenko writes that “the Arctic is not a curse, but on the contrary, a blessing for Russia”. This region is more engaged in international processes than other Russian regions and has all chances to become an engine in the development of the country, he stresses.
Despite his region’s heavy dependency of the mining and metallurgy industry, Dmitriyenko believes Murmansk can become a driving force in making Russia more innovative. It is first of all the oil industry which is to help modernize the region.
-The implementation of modern technology within oil and gas extraction started in the Russian North, the governor underlines. Now, the offshore industry and geological exploration will help turn Murmansk into “the avant-garde of innovative development”, he adds. He underlines that modernization “will not start in the south and stretch northwards”, but that Murmansk on the contrary itself will be a centre for development.
The statements fit well with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his drive for a radical modernization of the country.
The newspaper article comes at the same day as Dmitriyenko hosts the signing ceremony for the Russian-Norwegian border delimitation deal. The deal which was announced in Oslo in late April will be signed by the two countries’ foreign ministers and in the presence of both President Dmitry Medvedev and PM Jens Stoltenberg. It is believed that the border delineation will open up for significant oil and gas developments in the Barents Sea and enhanced cooperation between the two countries.
Read more: Barents Sea border Treaty is signed
Murmansk is the world’s biggest city north of the Arctic Circle and is self-proclaimed “capital of the Arctic”. The city with about 320 thousand people is centre of a raw material and export-oriented region. Murmansk Oblast is also heavily engaged in international cooperation, first of all within the frames of the Barents Euro-Arctic Cooperation.
