MOSCOW, July 09, /ITAR-TASS/. Arctic research centre (a joint venture of the Russian oil giant Rosneft and ExxonMobil) has signed an agreement with the Council on Marine Mammals public organisation to carry out research studies of polar bears in the areas of potential hydrocarbon development, the Rosneft press service says in a statement.

An expedition to the Arctic seas is expected to perform major work on studying polar bears from the end of June to October. The zoologists plan to collect data on distribution of polar bears in the areas of interest, to put satellite collars on grown-up bears and then trace their movements.

Besides, biological studies are planned to evaluate the impact of the environmental change on the polar bear and to subtract DNA for further molecular and genetic analysis.

Rosneft regards conservation and protection of the polar bear as an issue of top priority and has taken under its wing all the species of the polar bear in Russia’s zoos.

The Arctic Scientific and Project Centre supports the programmes on research studies of three Russian subpopulations of this species.