Michael de Laine

New Russian maritime strategy will highlight Arctic, deputy PM says

By Michael de Laine, Copenhagen 8^th February 2009

Russia’s new maritime strategy will highlight the Arctic so Russia can take leading position in the region.

Russia’s new maritime strategy, to be adopted later this year, will highlight the Arctic, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov told the newspaper Transport of Russia, according the Barents Observer website.

“The main priority of the strategy will be measures on the development of the Arctic territories of Russia, so the country can take leading positions in the region,” Ivanov said.

Being prepared by Russia’s Ministry of Defence and supported by the Sea Collegium of the Russian Federation, the federal strategy will be completed by mid-2009 and published at the end of the year, he added.

Among the priorities to be pursued will be establishing a common logistics system by the Ministry of Transport and the Russian Navy, which would prepare the ground for a higher level of commercial shipping in the areas considered of high strategic interest for the Navy. These areas include the waters along the Kola Peninsula and the Barents Sea.

The document will also highlight the need for modernising Russia’s Arctic fleet and for setting up an enhanced control system for the airspace, sea-based and sub-sea situation in the Arctic.

Implementing the strategy will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence, while the Federal Sea Collegium will be responsible for coordinating the activities of all the involved bodies of federal power.

In June, the Sea Collegium will hold a meeting in Archangel and study how Russian state interests in the Arctic can be protected.