ARCTIC AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTHERN SEA ROUT IN THE INSTITUTIONAL MODERNIZATION OF RUSSIAN ECONOMY

Abstract

Interest to the territory of the Arctic can be explained due to its great natural resources — water, energy, mineral and the prospects for the mastering of these resources and the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), the transformation of this infrastructure project into a convenient global transport artery with a competitive potential. Although the division of the Arctic into sectors was accepted by the world community in 1926, the latest discoveries of the largest oil and gas fields radically changed the situation — a fierce struggle began for the recognition of the legal rights of certain individual circumpolar states, including Russia, over these stocks. Environmental problems are particularly acute, since the natural environment is the basis of life for the indigenous peoples of the North. A number of specialized international organizations were created with the aim to protect the unique natural landscape of the arctic northern polar zone. Special attention is paid to the origins and the present situation with the icebreaker fleet, organizational and legal problems, constraining transits and regional transportation along the Northern Sea Route and its subsequent fate. As a positive example of international cooperation, the paper indicates to the commissioning of the «Yamal SPG» liquefied gas production plant and to the construction of the Sabetta seaport. Now the bottleneck of the infrastructure of the NSR is the shortage of ports, capable of accept high-capacity vessels and equipped with large container terminals.