The Arctic attracts the attention of the world’s most powerful countries, Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Alexei Chekunkov said at the Gaidar Forum on January 15.
The Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic has launched an integral online platform for promoting tourism in the Russian Arctic, with the support of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism.
“We have launched an integral platform for promoting Arctic tourism, with the support of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism. It includes websites and social media catering to over one million users, and their number will reach five million before the year is out,” said First Deputy Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Alexander Krutikov at a meeting of the Council for Digital Economy Development under the Federation Council, whose participants discussed the digital development prospects of Arctic regions.
He also added that travel agencies and tour operators could use the platform free of charge.
“Any Arctic tour operators now can post information about their tourist products on this platform, with the support of professional consultants, and we are ready to promote them,” Krutikov added.
Restrictions linked with the COVID-19 pandemic hit small businesses harder than the rest, Krutikov noted. Entrepreneurs who managed to transform their businesses in new conditions profited from this situation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a Decree "on the Minister of the Russian Federation for the development of the Far East and the Arctic".
" in accordance with paragraph " d " of article 83 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, appoint Alexey Chekunkov as the Minister of the Russian Federation for the development of the Far East and the Arctic." The decree came into force on the day of its signing, November 10, 2020.
Earlier, state Duma deputies supported the appointment of Alexey Chekunkov to the post of head of the Ministry of regional Development of Russia.
A few facts from the biography:
Alexey Chekunkov was born on October 3, 1980 in Minsk.
Graduated from the faculty of International economic relations of the Moscow state Institute of international relations (University) Russian foreign Ministry (MGIMO).
From 2001 to 2011, he held senior positions in the private equity sector in Russia. Managed major projects of international and Russian financial organizations, including in the Far East - in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Khabarovsk territory.
In 2011-2013, he participated in the creation of the Russian direct investment Fund and held the position of Director, member of the management Board and member of the investment Committee. He was responsible for investments in healthcare, energy conservation, and the raw materials sector, as well as for the creation of the Russian-Chinese investment Fund together with the China investment Corporation.
In 2014-2020-General Director of the Far East and Arctic development Fund
In 2015-2019, he was a member of the Supervisory Board of PJSC ALROSA.
Member of the Government Commission on socio-economic development of the Far East and The state Commission on Arctic development. He is a member of the Board of Directors of PJSC RusHydro.
On November 10, 2020, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was appointed Minister of the Russian Federation for the development of the Far East and the Arctic.
A draft law on free land acquisition in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation prepared by the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the development of the Far East and the Arctic has been submitted to the government for consideration. This was reported on Monday in the press service of the Ministry.
"The Ministry for the development of the far East and the Arctic has submitted a draft law to the government of the Russian Federation that will allow Russians to get free land plots in the Arctic zone of The country for building a residential building or conducting any economic activity," the report says.
We are talking about amendments to the Federal law on the "far Eastern hectare". It is planned that the right to receive land plots in the first 6 months of the law on the Arctic territory will be citizens, registered in respective regions, and municipalities, and after this period, the right will have any citizen of Russia, the participant of the State program on rendering assistance to voluntary resettlement to Russian Federation of compatriots living abroad.
You can get a free land plot of up to 1 hectare for a period of 5 years, and then register it as a property or long-term lease. You can use the land for building a residential building or conducting any economic activity, including creating a household, providing various types of services, including tourism.
The Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic is studying current trends to develop a geological research program on the Arctic region.
"Today we are developing a long-term program for geological research of the Arctic, in this sense: we understand that in the future not all the resources the Arctic has today will be needed by the global economy and it is stupid to invest today in natural resources that may not be needed in 10-15 years," said Deputy Minister Alexander Krutikov at an online seminar of the Valdai international discussion club.
Krutikov stressed that climate change in the Arctic was not just an environmental problem but also an economic one.
"The recent events in Norilsk, according to expert assessments, <…> degradation of the permafrost is one of the main causes. This is a problem, and not just an environmental problem but also a major economic one," he concluded.
The deputy minister added that the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic was appointed the responsible agency for the development of a plan to help the Arctic adapt to climatic change.
"We have formed a group of over 30 leading Russian scientists working on various aspects of climate change and regard this task as above all an economic task. The potential damage of climate change to the Russian economy is definitely underestimated today. We are continuing to work on this issue from this point of view," Krutikov said.
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