MOSCOW, May 30 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia will augment its natural riches thanks to the development of natural resources in Siberia, primarily East Siberia, soon. Russia will be moving a vector in the development of natural resources to East Siberia and the Far East until 2030. The conclusion was made in the scientific paper of the Far Eastern Federal University titled “Russia in the Asia-Pacific Region: Prospects of Integration”, secretary of the Branch of Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences Academician Andrei Kokoshin said in an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass.
“According to the forecasts of Russian scientists and specialists, primarily the Institute of Economy and Industrial Production of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the output of oil crude and condensate in Russia may reach 580-585 million tonnes by 2025-2030 in case of favourable external and internal conditions combined,” he said. “According to the authors of this scientific survey, the gas production in Russia may reach 1,075 billion cubic metres by 2030. Meanwhile, the regions in East Siberia and the Far East will take a growing share in the Russian gas production,” he noted.
The oil production will be developed in such centres as Yuzhno-Evenkiisky, Vankorsko-Suzunsky (the Krasnoyarsk Territory), Nensko-Botuobinsky (the northern part of the Irkutsk Region and western Yakutia), the authors of the scientific survey said. In the Far East a major oil production growth is expected in Sakhalin. The gas production can grow in Yakutia, the Irkutsk Region and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. It is very important that these deposits are characterized with a high percentage of helium in the natural gas that requires the development of the helium industry in these regions, Kokoshin said. In the Far East the gas production will be developed on the shelf fields on the Sakhalin Island and the gas projects in the Zapadno-Kamchatsky sector of the Pacific.
“As for the coal production, according to the authors of the scientific paper, its vector will shift in the eastern direction; the share of East Siberia will grow from 23.6% to 35.7%, the Far East – from 9.7% to 17.1%,” he said. This tendency will result in “a higher competiveness of export supplies,” the scientist noted, explaining that “the share of the Asia-Pacific Region has made 38% of all power consumed in the world in 2010, its share may reach 44-45% by 2030. Meanwhile, the region will be the largest consumer of initial energy.”
Therefore, the scientific paper focuses on a survey of banking and financial activities in the countries in the Asia-Pacific Region, because “the development of Russian economy needs very massive investments in relevant regions,” Kokoshin said. However, for massive investments and credits “a strong infrastructure should be created and the entities enjoying the authority of stock and credit markets should be formed,” he said. Therefore, this complex scientific survey devoted its important part to the analysis of the socio-economic situation in the regions of the Far East and the Trans-Baikal Territory.
A separate chapter is devoted to the mechanisms of development in the Far East and the Trans-Baikal Territory. The chapter dwells on the transport and energy potential of the Far East and the Trans-Baikal Territory, the belts of territorial development of these regions, supporting areas of their development, the development of the city of Vladivostok “as a geostrategic Russian centre in the Asia-Pacific Region; the construction of the Vostochny spaceport and a selective policy of the Far East and the Trans-Baikal Territory.”
“The scientific paper “Russia in the Asia-Pacific Region: Prospects of Integration” makes a serious scientific contribution in the understanding of the processes, which have been going on in this huge region already for several decades, and in a profound idea on the Russian interests in the Asia-Pacific Region, and the possibilities, which our country has over this factor,” Kokoshin pointed out.
Academician Kokoshin heads the scientific advisory council of the Branch of Social Sciences in the Russian Academy of Sciences and the world politics faculty at the Lomonosov Moscow State University over the development of Siberia and the Far East in view of political and economic dynamics in the Asia-Pacific Region.