Barents governors in Arctic Commission
Four governors from the Russian part of the Barents region have become members of the newly established Arctic Commission.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on March 14 signed the documents which define the mandate and composition of the Arctic Commission that was established to coordinate Russia’s activities in the Arctic. Included in the Commission mandate are issues of social, economic, political, as well as military, importance.
Headed by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the commission consists of nearly 70 people, including several ministers and representatives of the oil and gas industry, the FSB and Ministry of Defense, as well as polar explorers and regional leaders.
Heads of four of Russia’s five regions that are part of the Euro-Arctic Barents Cooperation are included in the list of members of the commission: Governor of Murmansk Oblast Marina Kovtun, Head of the Republic of Komi Vyacheslav Gayzer, Governor of Nenets Autonomous Okrug Igor Koshin and Governor of Arkhangelsk Oblast Igor Orlov, the Government’s web site reads.
The commission will have its first meeting on April 14. “We will once again return to the question on what Russia has in technical and technological terms for development of the huge Arctic areas,” Rogozin said to RIA Novosti.
Murmansk Oblast also has two other members of the commission – Director of Murmansk Marine Biological Institute Gennady Matishov and General Director of Atomflot Vyacheslav Ruksha.
Russia has for some time been planning the establishment if some sort of structure – a ministry or a federal agency, to deal with Arctic issues. The difficult economic situation in the country might be a key reason why the Kremlin decides to establish a commission and not a costly new ministry.
