Arctic and North

11

Authors: Sergeeva K.I., Mironenko K.A.

The article examines the dynamics of the number of small and medium-sized businesses in the Arkhangelsk Oblast from 2017 to 2021. The main reason for the sharp decrease in the number of subjects in 2020 is determined. The most vulnerable and affected areas of small and medium-sized businesses are listed. The measures of support for these areas of entrepreneurship at the federal level are reviewed. The measures taken by the Arkhangelsk regional government to regulate the situation are studied. The specific organizations that give support directly in the territory of the Arkhangelsk Oblast are given. The reasons why it is necessary to support and develop small and medium business in the Arkhangelsk economy are given. The methods used in this paper are an analysis of the number of small and medium-sized enterprises, drawing conclusions about the economic situation in the Oblast on the basis of this analysis, and researching support measures. This article might be useful for entrepreneurs in the Arkhangelsk Oblast to study the support measures. The information described in the article could be useful for scientific research, for statistics and analysis of small and medium business in the Arkhangelsk Oblast.

13

Authors: Vasilyev A.M., Lisunova E.A.

The data on the growth of prices for Arctic fish species in 2015, 2018, compared to 2013, the period of the relatively “hard” ruble, are presented. The reasons for the price increase are shown. An important one is the replacement of the “historical” method of providing biological resources to fishermen with the “auction” one, since it is associated with payment for the right to harvest. This leads to an increase in production costs and prices for fish products, as well as to a decrease in fish consumption by the popula-tion. Objectives of the article: to develop proposals to increase the supply of products from Arctic fish to Russian markets (primarily to the markets of the North-West of the country) and to reduce their prices. The relevance of the article is due to the lack of practical measures to reduce the prices of Arctic fish products and increase consumption. The most important results: the author's proposals to stimulate increased sales of fish products in Russia provided by the fish products of the Northern basin are substantiated. Practical significance: it is shown that the use of the developed proposals will reduce consumer prices for fish products, an increase in visits of fishing vessels to Arctic ports and unloading of fish products will lead to a multiplier effect by improving the activities of fish processing enterprises and servicing the fishing fleet.

15

Authors: Skufina T.P., Baranov S.V., Samarina V.P.

The tasks of forecasting the development of Russian territories, in particular the territory of the Arctic, are the most problematic due to the urgent need of the economy and management for a reliable forecast, the uncertainty of the near future caused by the turbulence of geopolitics, and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on socio-economic processes, which are also not fully measurable. The purpose of the article is to present the initial grounds and forecast of the socio-economic development of the regions of the Russian Arctic with a lead time up to 2023. The methodological peculiarity of the research is to take into account geopolitical, national, regional, industrial factors and development trends on the basis of using: 1) the analysis results of real and perspective global trends recorded in statistical indicators, forecast documents of the IMF, WTO, Central Bank, Ministry of Economic Development of Russia; 2) generalizations, comparisons of official forecasts and development plans of the AZRF adopted at the federal, regional levels, as well as forecasts, plans of corporations operating in the AZRF; 3) analysis of real statistical data using the author's econometric models. Given the considerable amount of analytical information received, the aspects and factors that have a key influence on the prospects of socio-economic development of the Arctic are outlined and classified according to the following levels: global, national, regional. Forecasts are made for the regions entirely located in the Arctic zone — Yamalo-Nenets, Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous okrugs, the Murmansk Oblast with an anticipation period up to 20212023. The importance of scientific forecasting in modern conditions is emphasized, encouraging reflection, new hypotheses, discussions.

17

Authors: Maksimov A.M.

The article examines the problem of intergenerational dynamics of the religiosity level in post-Soviet Russia in the context of cultural transformations, combining the movement towards postsecularity and the domination of secular values of late modern societies. The paper analyzes the all-Russian data, ob-tained within the framework of the project “World Values Survey”, as well as data on religiosity and value orientations of the population of some Russian Arctic regions, obtained with the direct participation of the author. As a result of the analysis, the author verifies several hypotheses and comes to certain qualitative results. Firstly, there is a generational shift from traditional values to secular-rational values in modern Russia (according to R. Inglehart). The beginning of this process falls on the period of the socialization of the Millennial generation, the context of which is the economic and political reforms of the 19902000s. Secondly, the process of the intergenerational transformation of values is organically associated with a decline in the level of religiosity, but it is “delayed” by one generation. The author offers an explanation for this desynchronisation. Thirdly, it is shown that the religiosity level of the population of the Arctic territories is lower (in general and by generations) in comparison with the all-Russian religiosity level. The factors contributing to these differences, according to the author, are the relatively low share of Muslim population in the Russian Arctic and its high level of urbanization.

20

Authors: Belov S.V., Skripnichenko V.A., Ushakova V.A.

The article analyzes the possibilities for prospecting, evaluation, exploration and extraction of zinc and lead deposits in the Arctic. The reserves and resources of zinc and lead deposits and ore occurrences on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, on Vaygach Island, in the Polar Urals and in the Northern Timan are cal-culated on the territory of the Russian Arctic. The predominant reserves are represented by the Pavlovskoye deposit, which is being prepared for development by JSC First Mining Company of the Rosatom State Corporation. In 2019, the design of a mining enterprise was initiated, no lead and zinc mining has been carried out within the Arctic zone. A promising object is the Saureyskoye deposit in the Polar Urals. The problem is the remoteness of the site from transport highways. It is necessary to plan the construction of a dirt road from the deposit to the railway. Cargo can then be sent to the ports of the Gulf of Ob or to the port of Indiga when it is put into operation. Lead and zinc deposits on the island of Vaygach and on the Arctic coast near Amderma were previously developed. It is necessary to reassess their reserves and to determine possible development options. The extracted ore will be transported through the port of Amderma. In the Northern Timan, reassessment of non-ferrous metal ores should be carried out in a complex (lead, zinc, molybdenum, copper, nickel). Ore mining may be appropriate in connection with the construction of the deep-water seaport of Indiga. The purpose of this article is to study the mining, geological and economic characteristics of lead-zinc ore deposits and the spatial organization of marine communications for the development of the mineral resource complex of the Arctic zone of Russia. Mining facilities in the Arctic have an important strategic importance for strengthening national security of the country.

21

Authors: Pilyasov A.N., Molodtsova V.A.

The aim (research question) of the paper is to theoretically comprehend and empirically generalize the phenomenon of governance of Russia's Arctic cities in the context of their resilience (resistance to shocks and crises). The main tasks to be solved are: 1) searching for specific indicators to characterize the administrative and managerial system of a sample of Arctic cities; 2) distinguishing the types (groups) of Arctic cities according to the selected indicators of administrative and management system; 3) characterizing the local government structure of the three Arctic cities in the context of the previously conducted typology of Arctic cities according to the parameters of administrative and management system. The main results of the work are: 1) determination of the range of indicators (six) for assessing the quality of management of the 29 largest Arctic cities in terms of strengthening their resilience: these are indicators of openness to the outside world (“basicness” of the city); governance efficiency, degree of independence of decisions of city authorities; 2) identification of five clusters of cities with similar properties of the administrative and managerial subsystem: compact high-quality management, “low-cost” municipal management, “strong average” cities, significant reserves for improving management efficiency, case-anomaly; 3) institutional and geographic factors, acting together, determine the appearance of the administrative and managerial subsystem of the Arctic city. Among geographical factors, it is not latitude but longitude that is the location of the city in the European or Asian Arctic that is of primary importance; 4) For Arctic cities, where frequent natural and social force majeure demands a super-operational response to external threats, the model of power with a strong mayor is in most cases preferable to the “consensus” model of collective leadership with a weak mayor; 5) the ideal administrative and management system of the city, which implements the imperatives of basicness/openness, efficiency and autonomy to the maximum extent, and guarantees the city resilience, should have nature-like properties of self-organization, plasticity, flexibility, mobility and diversity. Their strengthening is provided by rejection of unification, including the ultimate consideration of specific features of a particular type and exploitation phase of the main natural asset nearest to the city.

26

Authors: Bhagwat J.V.

The author traces the evolution of military presence in the Arctic by Russia and NATO in the article. He analyses the impact of military posturing on Arctic geopolitics. The author advocates that while military capabilities are essential for deterrence, unnecessary military rhetoric by NATO and Russia is detrimental to peace and security in the Arctic. Arctic geopolitics is fraught with tensions due to regular highly publicized military exercises and posturing in the area. The new Arctic Cold War is likely to affect Russia more adversely due to Western sanctions post-2014 and the requirement to develop the NSR as an inter-nationally competitive transport corridor. Russia has a legitimate right to protect its security in the Arctic. However, the author argues it is unnecessary to highlight such events regularly, and it may be more useful to focus on the economy and rationalize military spending. Russia needs to focus on its relationship with the Nordic countries and reemphasize its peaceful and cooperative engagement in the Arctic. Its leadership of the Arctic Council is crucial to reducing tensions in the Arctic.