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Geopolitical situation leaves Russian Arctic projects practically unchanged, expert says

The current geopolitical situation has a certain effect on the development of Arctic projects, and yet it is unable to have a fundamental impact on the Russian Arctic projects, Vladimir Panov said

MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. Russia will always be ahead of other countries in Arctic projects, and the geopolitical situation did not have a significant impact on them, Rosatom's envoy on the Arctic development Vladimir Panov said at the Valdai International Discussion Club.

"A discussion about formats, whether we participate in the Arctic Council or not - in my opinion, it does not exist. Russia is an integral part of the Arctic. <...> In terms of the area of this country, every third square meter is the Arctic. From the economic point of view, every sixth ruble in the Russian economy is from the Russian Federation's Arctic Zone. Therefore, apparently, we will be ahead of many countries in terms of the development of our projects in the Arctic," he said during a discussion on the results of Russia's presidency at the Arctic Council in 2021-2023. Thousands of people with unique skills are currently working in that region, he continued. "The Russian government has been coordinating actively the work to have all those projects develop further on."

The current geopolitical situation has a certain effect on the development of Arctic projects, and yet it is unable to have a fundamental impact on the Russian Arctic projects, he said. Any Arctic project emerges when appropriate technological solutions appear. "Therefore, Arctic projects live in a slightly different cycle. In this aspect, there is a certain impact, but anyway it cannot stop the development of any Arctic project. <...> To an extent, the attempt to stay away from cooperation with Russia in discussing common Arctic tasks has not prevented, it rather has contributed to faster solutions," the expert said.

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