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Russia to apply for Arctic shelf borders in 2015 — minister

Evidence will be presented to the UN to prove that 1.2 million square kilometres of water area, including the Mendeleev and Lomonosov ridges, were a continuation of Russia's continental shelf

MOSCOW, May 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia will apply to the United Nations next year to affirm borders of its economic zone in the Arctic, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoy said on Wednesday.

Evidence will be presented to prove that 1.2 million square kilometres of water area, including the Mendeleev and Lomonosov ridges, were a continuation of Russia's continental shelf, said Donskoy.

Research for the application, to be ready by November, has been underway since 2006. This year, it will take place in the furthest northern Russian waters.

It will then take an examining commission several years to consider the application given the vast area involved.

Donskoy said he hoped Russia's bid would be considered “professionally and without political bias”, as in the successful application for 52,000 square kilometres in the far eastern Sea of Okhotsk, approved last year.

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