SYKTYVKAR /Komi Region/, February 20. /TASS/. More than 15 investment projects may be included in an application from the Komi Region's Vorkuta for a status of an advance-development territory, the city's head of administration, Igor Guryev, told TASS on Tuesday.

"We have about 15 investment projects, which may be implemented within an advance-development territory; some of them are working production facilities, which could be expanded," he said. "For example, we have a project called Hydroponic - growing plants, and we have a working project on processing waste from the coal industry into fuel briquettes."

However, he continued, the local authorities have not decided which projects in the application could be anchor projects for the future advance-development territory. "Receiving the status is not the target, as at first we need to eye major investment projects," he continued. "Vorkuta's present and future are connected with coal production, but the city's sole enterprise "Vorkutaugol" (the coal producer) cannot participate there, since how then shall we stop being a mono-industrial city?"

"Another issue, which will arise, is the logistics, as deliveries from Vorkuta may be by railway only," he added.

The Region's government explained to TASS that the authorities are in search for future residents, as this condition is binding for filing an application. "We have several projects, which could be implemented in the advance-development territory," the government said. "Those are construction of a complex to process reindeer products, a facility to produce fuel briquettes, and a complex to sort materials for further recycling."

Other, though smaller projects, could be a line to bottle drinking water, construction of a mall, a center to service mining equipment, an open-pit coal mining project, and others, Vorkuta’s administration said.

TASS wrote earlier that Vorkuta wanted to offer to the advance-development territory’s future residents more than 20 industrial sites.

The goal is the Arctic

The polar city has other development projects. "First of all, under the state program on social and economic development of Russia’s Arctic zone, a backbone zone would be in Vorkuta," the regional government said. "The region participates actively in this work, including in the joint work on the backbone zone’s concept."

"Besides, the region’s several districts will join the Russian Arctic zone," the government added. "Those districts have the nature-climate conditions similar to those in Vorkuta."

Vorkuta’s key development projects, as a base for the Arctic industrial-transportation cluster, are connected with development of the Pechora coal basin, further use of the local nature-resource potential, modernization and development of the transport-logistics infrastructures, and information and telecommunication technologies.

About Vorkuta

Vorkuta is the Komi Region’s mono-industrial city, north of the Polar Circle. The population is about 60-80 thousand people. About 7,000 are employed with the coal industry’s businesses. The city’s only enterprise is the Vorkutaugol coal producer, owned by Severstal. Practically all the coal, produced in Vorkuta, is used in the metallurgy.