Interview of the Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation, B. A. Morgunov, "Spitsbergen could be conferred tourist SEZ status", "Gazeta" newspaper, 30 March 2006
"Spitsbergen could be conferred tourist SEZ status"
Boris Morgunov - to "Gazeta"
Andrey Lavrov
Gazeta, 30.03.2006, p. 15
According to the Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade B. Morgunov, "Spitsbergen could be conferred tourist SEZ status".
Yesterday Mikhail Fradkov returned from Norway. For the sake of this trip, he has even missed the President meeting with businessmen. Such thing has never occurred before. It is true that "fish wars" and ecological disasters on Spitsbergen have caused tension between Russia and Norway. Boris Morgunov, Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, in his interview to "Gazeta" commented on the "reefs" in Russian-Norwegian business.
- Two months ago Norwegian fish complied with our phytosanitary standards. Why doesn't it comply with them any longer?
- The quality of fish has changed. You should remember that in Norway fish is being raised in fiords. To make it gain weight faster, it is fed with feeding concentrate. Negative impact of this practice is that such feed often contains elevated concentration of substances banned for use in food products.
Sooner or later the ban would be lifted - Norway is not interested in loosing the market. Furthermore, when several countries or one country refuse to buy products due to phytosanitary issues this fact spoils the image.
- How long will negotiations on shelf delimiting last?
- Negotiations have already lasted for decades, and although we have not come up with a solution so far, negotiations have "crossed the Line". Currently the parties have revealed all arguments and evidences. The most disputable issue is Fedynskoje deposit with the largest anticipated hydrocarbon reserves, exceeding reserves of Shtokmanovskoe deposit. Oil and gas reserves in the North Sea are definitely not unlimited and development assets created by Norway would have to be loaded somehow. In this context, Russia and Norway could possibly consider joint exploration and development of hydrocarbon shelf reserves in this region on mutually advantageous basis.
- There was a fire on our mine on Spitsbergen not long ago. Do we need it?
- Territory of Russian villages is still almost isolated from other parts of the archipelago. Coal mined in Barentsburg is of low quality and its target market in Russia is rather limited. So it's reasonable to limit coal mining development there. There is no information on financial outcome of the fire, but, of course, fire caused detriment, serious detriment. And what is most important - it added tension into our relations with Norway. We coexist abnormally on Spitsbergen.
- And how could this tension be defused?
- New concept of Russian presence provision on Spitsbergen should be adopted. Opportunity for tourism development on the basis of Barentsburg and Piramida villages is neglected although recreational potential of Spitsbergen is well-known all over the world. Business activities aimed at Spitsbergen bio-resources development are also seriously underestimated and limited by insufficient initial investments.
We should diversify our presence in archipelago: support scientific research, develop tourism activities, and pay particular attention to the environment protection.
- What investments would it require?
- Funds are annually allocated in the federal budget of the Russian Federation for providing our presence on Spitsbergen. Currently they are used for coal mining support. If the decision on diversification of activities on Spitsbergen is made and coal mining is limited to the needs of Spitsbergen only, those funds could partially be re-directed. If to talk about tourism, in case the law on tourist and recreational zones is passed, it would be possible to consider conferring the respective status to this region. Russian infrastructure does exist on Spitsbergen, there is even a swimming pool with heated ocean water there.
