Atle Staalesen

Construction starts at new Murmansk LNG hub

The reloading terminal on the Barents Sea coast is to be completed in 2023. It will help stabilise prices in the market, Novatek leader Leonid Mikhelson says.
February 06, 2023

Norwegians sell hotels in Russia. 10% of the sum is seized by Putin's war treasury

The Wenaas Group sells its ten Russian hotels for €203 million, €20 million of which will be included in the Russian federal budget.
February 04, 2023

Norway buys 54 Leopards for protection of the North

The acquisition of tanks from German manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann strengthens ties with Berlin and the neighbouring Nordic countries, Jonas Gahr Støre underlined in his announcement of the deal.
February 03, 2023

Andrei Patrushev buys stake in Arkhangelsk Seaport

The youngest son in Russia's powerful FSB family acquires 10 percent of the strategically important infrastructure object as part of his aspirations in the Arctic.
February 01, 2023

"I just want to help my people," says exiled Sámi leader

Aleksandr Slupachik fled Russia following war, mobilisation and mounting pressure from the FSB. He has now applied for political asylum in Norway.
February 01, 2023

Ahead of deployment in Ukraine, Russian Arctic troops shoot missiles near border to Norway and Finland

The motorised rifle brigade in Pechenga is exercising with multiple-launch rocket system Grad and self-propelled guns Akatsia only few kilometres from the two Nordic countries.
January 30, 2023

American investors leave forests of Arkhangelsk

U.S company International Paper has sold its 50 percent stake in Russian pulp and paper producer Ilim.
January 28, 2023

Norway's oil minister: "We need new discoveries"

Despite warnings about climate catastrophe, the Norwegian government prepares the ground for a significant expansion of oil and gas exploration in far northern waters.
January 25, 2023

The new trade. Shipments from Murmansk show Russia's great partner shift

The ships that now that set out from the Russian Arctic port are heading towards Turkey, North Africa, Asia and South America.
January 25, 2023

"None of our guys killed, none injured," Komi Governor reports from Ukrainian front

Hundreds of men are perishing every day, but leader of the north Russian Komi Republic assures that his mobilized countrymen are all fine.
January 23, 2023

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Atle is journalist and Publisher of the Independent Barents Observer.

In 2002, he founded the Barents Observer. He was editor until 2009 and later worked as journalist and project coordinator for several European cross-border cooperation projects. In late 2015, following a conflict over editorial rights, he re-established the Barents Observer as an independent and non-profit stock company along with the rest of the newspaper crew.  

Atle has a degree in Russian studies from the University of Oslo and studied journalism at the Moscow State University.

atle@thebarentsobserver.com
@atlestaalesen