Flagship of Arctic development: Governor of the Murmansk region Andrey Chibis spoke about the main advantages of the region

The harsh North unfolded in all its glory at the Russia exhibition and forum on Friday, December 22. The day of the Murmansk region, the flagship of the development of the domestic Arctic, took place here. The 85th year since the creation of the entity was especially successful for it. The region was included in the top 10 leading regions in the socio-economic sustainability rating. All this is thanks to the implementation of large-scale projects and the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). The achievements of Murmansk residents at the region’s stand on this festive date were also inspected by Governor Andrei Chibis, together with the Minister for the Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexei Chekunkov.

“For us, this year is a year of breakthrough success. A landmark project has taken place – the launch of a new railway, a branch that will connect the Oktyabrskaya Railway with the Lavna port under construction on the shores of the Kola Bay. The President of Russia gave him the start. This means a lot for the development of the Northern Sea Route and the development of the port of Murmansk. The infrastructure was created in almost a year, thanks to the support of the government and Vladimir Putin. Large-scale projects make the Murmansk region the flagship of the Arctic,” Andrey Chibis said during the plenary session.

He added that this year we managed to reverse the trend of people leaving the region. Over 9 months of this year, 800 more people came to the region to live and work than left. So far the figures are not great, but very optimistic, because initially the plan to change this ratio was set for 2030.

“Leaving has decreased by almost 30%. This is the result of teamwork, the result of creating new jobs. The result is that the North, despite its harsh conditions, is becoming increasingly attractive for work, for self-realization, and for life. In addition, the gross regional product (GRP) per capita in the region increased 2.5 times,” the governor said.

His words also resonated with Alexey Chekunkov. He, in turn, said that a phenomenal, diverse industry and a powerful logistics infrastructure have been created in the region over 85 years.

“We managed to begin implementing CATU development programs. We also tested an approach to creating master plans for cities in the Far East. This is a transition to a truly thoughtful smart planning system. By decision of President Vladimir Putin, master plans for long-term socio-economic development of the territories will be developed in three agglomerations of the Murmansk region: Murmansk, Kirov-Apatity and Monchegorsk. The Murmansk region is producing very interesting results in tourism. Studies of traveler satisfaction from different routes showed that the highest satisfaction was from northern tourism (97%). The North is becoming fashionable, young and energetic,” Chekunkov emphasized.

According to Andrey Grachev, Vice President for Federal and Regional Programs of PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel, the NSR is an artery that has radically changed all logistics, a kind of Russian northern silk road.

“The NSR is important for our country. Firstly, it develops the accompanying infrastructure. The second point is safety; it’s hard to imagine pirates on an icebreaker. The third point is the predictability of navigation. The fourth is efficiency and so on,” Grachev said, saying that a new record was recently set on the Talnakh company’s vessel, which was described in more detail by the special representative of the Rosatom state corporation for Arctic development, Vladimir Panov.

“On the night of December 20-21, Rosatom set a record for cargo transportation along the NSR. The total volume of cargo transported in 2023 amounted to 35 million tons! Before this, the record was 34.9 million in 2021, then, of course, there was a negative impact of the global situation. But at the moment we see that all projects have adapted. It should be noted that based on the results of 2023, a new record for transit cargo transportation along the NSR will be achieved, while transit traffic has already reached the highest value in the entire history of the NSR – 2.127 million tons,” Panov added.

The head of the NOVATEK-Murmansk company, Petr Oborin, spoke about the Center for the Construction of Large-Capacity Offshore Structures, which is building floating liquefaction lines for natural gas for the Arctic LNG 2 project.

“In 2015, it was a breakthrough idea – to build floating LNG plants. In five years, we built a plant that includes two docks, workshops, and technological lines for the production of liquefied gas. The construction of the plant is part of a large-scale development strategy. We will continue to develop the western shore of the Kola Bay. More than 800 Russian enterprises participated in our project. 80,000 jobs and 17,000 places were created for the Murmansk region,” Oborin said.

Guests of the session also said that the Murmansk region is one of the leaders in the North-Western District in terms of investment growth over the past 4 years – the growth was 116%. Together with residents of the priority development territory “Capital of the Arctic,” there are now over 220 of them, and 4.5 thousand jobs have already been created. Murmansk is one of the top 5 Russian ports in terms of cargo turnover. Freight traffic along the Northern Sea Route in 2023 increased by 3.2% and amounted to 53 million tons.

In addition, as part of the Region Day program, important agreements were signed with JSC Far East and Arctic Development Corporation. The first is with LLC “Western Transport and Logistics Hub” on the implementation of activities in the priority development territory “Capital of the Arctic” during the implementation of the project for the construction of the sea container terminal “Western Transport and Logistics Hub”. The second is with Escape Teriberka LLC on the implementation of investment activities and the implementation of the Escape Teriberka project for the development of an all-season tourist and recreational complex in the village of Teriberka. Third, with Arctic Village LLC on the implementation of investment activities in the Arctic zone during the implementation of a project for the construction of a hotel complex and recreation center at a ski resort in the city of Kirovsk. And fourth, but no less important, with Terminal 2022 LLC on cooperation in the implementation of the project “Construction of a transshipment port complex” in Murmansk.

For those who did not participate in the business program, the following were prepared: theatrical performances, virtual excursions, creative master classes, tasting of Arctic cuisine and much more. Also at the exhibition-forum site, a landmark event for the Murmansk region took place – the launch ceremony after the modernization of the Verkhne-Tulomskaya HPP.

Photo: Alexander Alekseev