Arctic and North

9

Authors: Arseniy V. KIRGIZOV-BARSKIY

Since 2008, the European Union has unsuccessfully tried to obtain permanent observer status in the Arctic Council, the central cooperation forum in the Arctic. The analysis shows that the EU's failures in this area are connected both with its location mostly outside of the region and remoteness from the northern realities, as well as global geopolitical tensions. However, the EU has had de facto observer ad hoc status since 2013, allowing it to participate in almost all formats of interaction in the Arctic Council. Considering this fact, the permanent observer status has rather a symbolic meaning and is equivalent to joining a kind of “privileged Arctic club”. An analysis of the EU's functioning in its relations with the Arctic Council and its members shows that the EU is ready to adapt and listen to the opinion of the Arctic countries in order to become a legitimate Arctic actor. The Arctic Council is of uneven importance for the different EU member states: Denmark, Finland and Sweden are full members, several countries are permanent observers, but most EU countries are not interested in the Arctic issues. Because of this multifaceted nature, the collective EU is more of an extra-regional player on the platform, but one with serious Arctic claims. The EU is actively working on a common Arctic policy. It is represented in the Arctic Council by the Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs, introduced in 2017, who acts in coordination with the European Commission and the member states concerned. The EU's overall approach is not unsuccessful: it has managed to engage more member states on the Arctic vector, and European expertise and input on sustainable development issues is already becoming an integral part of the AC's work and promises to evolve further.

11

Authors: Natalya V. RODNINA

The article discusses issues of the state of the agro-industrial complex of the region in connection with the need to fulfill the targets approved in January 2020 by the new edition of the Food Security Doctrine of Russia. The purpose of the study is to identify the problems of the northern region and to develop proposals for changing the situation for the successful implementation of the Doctrine. The scientific problem discussed in the article relates to the determination of the methodological foundations of the most relevant areas of agrarian policy for the current state, ensuring the implementation of the Food Security Doctrine of Russia and increasing the level of self-sufficiency of the region. The author's research develops the theory of determining the socio-economic role of effective interaction between authorities of different levels, scientific justification of the prospects for the further development of the agro-industrial complex due to the transformation of the industry development management system, innovative approach to training personnel for the agricultural sector, and introduction of new technological solutions as highly relevant. It has been established that such factors as the lack of effective interaction between the state and municipal authorities, and also the lack of young qualified personnel, whose competence meets the modern requirements, have a negative impact on the economy of agricultural production and food self-sufficiency of the region as a whole. The article draws attention to the underestimated opportunities for improving the situation in the agro-industrial complex due to a change in the scheme of interaction between the state and municipal authorities during the implementation of the program-targeted method of regulation and strategic planning, as well as the creation of a scientific and educational complex in the region for the training of competitive specialists for the agro-industrial complex. In order to improve the situation, it is necessary to consolidate the formation of a regional agricultural system on the basis of a set of similar systems developed by the municipalities themselves, based on the relevant climatic conditions, financial, material and labor resources of these areas. Besides, it is necessary to start the training of personnel for the agroindustrial complex system from school, applying new educational standards, based on scientific developments.

12

Authors: Asya A. SHCHEGOLKOVA

The Yamal oil and gas province (OGP) is strategically important for the Russian gas industry. In the coming decade, gas production in Yamal is expected to grow to 180–200 billion cubic meters per year. The main goal of the article is to solve a scientific problem consisting in the study of the spatial organization of the development of gas resources, determination of the rational structure of reproduction of natural gas reserves in the Yamal oil-gas-bearing region in the context of the modernization of the Arctic gas industry complex. The article assessed the gas resources of Yamal, revealed trends in the economic development of natural gas fields, presented the characteristics of investment projects based on the fields being developed. An analysis was carried out that made it possible to differentiate the deposits by the degree of their prospects, and a strategy for expanding the hydrocarbon potential of Yamal was determined. It was revealed that the main areas of production in the Yamal oil-gas-bearing region are associated with the development of deposits with a high level of Cenomanian deposits. Such deposits are characterized by a higher increase in the capitalization and profitability of investment projects in real time compared to fields located in the northern and far eastern seas, including on the shelf of the Kara Sea. It was concluded that the strategy for the reproduction of hydrocarbon potential will be aimed at conducting prospecting and exploration in order to transfer forecast resources to industrial reserves of natural gas. The study applies a general scientific methodology providing for systemic and comprehensive approaches to justify the spatial organisation of gas resources development in the Yamal oil and gas bearing region. A significant body of factual material on the state of free gas and condensate reserves in Yamal has been analyzed. The results of the research were obtained with the use of comparative-analytical, statistical methods of economic analysis.

14

Authors: Marina A. TERENTYEVA

This article focuses on the labor market in the Russian northern regions. The labor market in the Russian North was formed due to the state policy of the no longer existing state, aimed at the active attraction of migrants from other territories for the industrial development of the country. This policy of attracting migrant labor in the state was implemented mainly through the creation of the institution of wages, which provided additional northern payments to the salary, designed to compensate for the discomfort of living and working conditions in the North. This led to an increase in employment in the North. The research goal is to study the formation and development of the wage institution, as well as to determine the impact of wages on employment in modern conditions. The article presents the history of formation of the institution of wages in the Russian North. The dynamics of labour market indicators is given, the change in the ratio of wages in the North is presented, based on official statistical data over the past 15 years. The results of the study show that the northern territories have problems of the labor market that have arisen in recent decades: high levels of unemployment, reduced employment, and wages, once being a significant factor, had a positive impact on employment, but today contribute to the decline in the economic attractiveness of life in the North.

16

Authors: Aziz A. MUSTAFAEV, Nikolay D. NAYDENOV, Elena N. NOVOKSHONOVA

The article discusses the problems of increasing the multiplier effect of the agro-industrial complex of the Komi Republic as a result of investment, as well as ways to accelerate the economic growth of its spheres and individual enterprises. The problems of motivation to increase capital investments in order to increase production and competitiveness of marketable products remain without due attention. The aim of the study is to substantiate the transition of the agro-industrial complex of the Komi Republic to an innovative and investment path of development, to more active methods of using advanced technologies and resource provision of investments, increasing the share of the intellectual component in their composition. The subject of the study is to determine the level of the multiplier effect of the agro-industrial complex of the Komi Republic as a method for assessing its effectiveness and competitiveness. Research methods — quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of total costs, scientific abstraction, analysis and synthesis, systems approach, historical and logical method, statistical observations. The article reveals the main trends of the multiplier effect in the agro-industrial complex of the Komi Republic. It is proposed to increase the multiplier effect of the agro-industrial complex for business entities to focus on the tasks of coordinating the flows of available investment resources.

19

Authors: Natalia A. SEROVA

The article presents the results of a study of the peculiarities of financing the road economy of the Murmansk Oblast — the Arctic region, the development of transport, including road, infrastructure of which acquires particular importance in the light of the implementation of national interests and priority directions of Russian state policy in the Arctic. In the course of work, the author considered the dynamics of spending funds from the Road Fund of the Murmansk Oblast for 2012–2020. It has been determined that the existing volume of financing of the regional road infrastructure does not allow the region to fully implement the tasks of developing road infrastructure and improving the quality of highways (primarily local ones). It is concluded that additional funds are needed to finance the road infrastructure of the Arctic regions, including through the use of public-private partnership mechanisms. The results of the study can be used in the formation of a policy in the field of road facilities in the Murmansk Oblast, as well as in further research on the financial support of road activities and the functioning of road funds.

21

Authors: Troy J. BOUFFARD, Ekaterina URYUPOVA, Klaus DODDS, Vladimir E. ROMANOVSKY, Alec P. BENNETT, Dmitry STRELETSKIY

Scientific cooperation is a well-supported narrative and theme, but in reality, presents many challenges and counter-productive difficulties. Moreover, data sharing specifically represents one of the more critical cooperation requirements, as part of the “scientific method [which] allows for verification of results and extending research from prior results.” One of the important pieces of the climate change puzzle is permafrost. Currently, most permafrost data remain fragmented and restricted to national authorities, including scientific institutes. Important datasets reside in various government or university labs, where they remain largely unknown or where access restrictions prevent effective use. A lack of shared research—especially data—significantly reduces effectiveness of understanding permafrost overall. Whereas it is not possible for a nation to effectively conduct the variety of modeling and research needed to comprehensively understand impacts to permafrost, a global community can. However, decision and policy makers, especially on the international stage, struggle to understand how best to anticipate and prepare for changes, and thus support for scientific recommendations during policy development. This article explores the global data systems on permafrost, which remain sporadic, rarely updated, and with almost nothing about the subsea permafrost publicly available. The authors suggest that the global permafrost monitoring system should be real time (within technical and reasonable possibility), often updated and with open access to the data. Following a brief background, this article will offer three supporting themes, 1) the current state of permafrost data, 2) rationale and methods to share data, and 3) implications for global and national interests.

24

Authors: Yury F. LUKIN

The purpose of this study is to analyze the present and past of the history of Alaska. Such a combination of times highlighted the most difficult problem of ambiguous attitude to the historical past in the USA from the standpoint of modernity. In the process of destroying monuments under the onslaught of the Black Lives Matter movement, the local Indian population accused the long-gone A.A. Baranov of racism, persecution of the indigenous population, enslavement of Tlingits and Aleuts for hunting fur-bearing animals. On July 14, 2020, the Sitka town and district assembly supported these accusations and decided to move his monument from the town square to the local museum. The review article reveals the objective conditions of the historical process during the period of A.A. Baranov's activity in Alaska in 1790–1818, using the methods of historicism, search and systematization of information, analysis and synthesis. The assessment of his personality is updated. The article shows the beginning of G.I. Shelikhov's and A.A. Baranov's activity in the North-Eastern Company, and then its transformation in 1799 into the Russian-American Company (RAC). The article examines the war with the Tlingit people of 1802–1804, the missionary work of Herman Alaskinskiy, three assessments of the nature of Russian colonization, N.P. Rezanov's plan for the modernization of RAC. The episode with Russia's sale of Alaska to the United States is also being clarified.