On November 09, 2021, NSRA partners gathered for an online conference. There's nothing one  can do about it. This is how the whole world works and you need to get used to it. At least the NSRA Council, which approved the program of the Arctic Energy and Infrastructure Conference with the active participation of the indigenous peoples of the Russian Arctic (RAIPON), has long seen many advantages in this form of work.

Photo from NSRA  archives:It is good to move by icebreakers , but to move by  deer it is better.

The welcome address of NSRA was coming from  deputy NSRA council  Pavel Seleznev and Alexander Ignatiev, Ambassador Plenipotentiary, Editor-in-chief of the leading Russian Arctic magazine "Arctic Herald " gave a good working start to the 4-hour conference. 

Perhaps the best was NOVATEK 's company  report on the company's work and plans in Yamal. Evgeny Ambrosov, deputy chairman of the management board, although he could not present the 25-minute report himself, sent the highest-class expert Artem Fedkin, head of the fleet dispatching center of the marine transportation department of PJSC NOVATEK, to the conference

Yes, any kind of work  in the Arctic region is not an easy. But NOVATEK, its head Leonid Mikhelson, is the "technological" pride of Russia, which has made a real energy breakthrough in Yamal with its sharp increase in LNG production and transportation. And it was simply impossible to do otherwise, because gas production without the parallel development of the Arctic infrastructure, energy, the port of Sabetta, a new generation of Arctic-class vessels, the growth of LNG production simply does not have any economic sense.  

Slava Karpov CEO of eNetGroup Inc Ottawa, Canada, told us about the American and Canadian colleagues on the example of the Keystone project

Not every Canadian is ready to join his Russian colleagues in NSRA  at 4.20 am Canadian time. But Mr. Karpov not only could, but literally stunned everyone with the "oil saga" about the very difficult American-Canadian oil relations over the past 10 years via Keystone project. It was a very difficult story with the closure of the route of the Keystone trans-trunk oil pipeline under construction by representatives of the first nations  or Russian RAIPON, as we call our peoples living in the North of Russia.. Technological, economic, and political decisions were also quite difficult. And where is it easy in the current conditions to lay an oil pipeline  2,600 km length, which runs not just from Canada to the United States, but also through many territories of these federal states? There is something for us to learn here, especially in the economic and environmental issue. NSRA partners will receive a recording of all the speeches at the recent conference that took place during the world climate summit in Glasgow with the participation of 120 countries.  At the conference, comments were made by well-known professionals and NSRA partners Dmitry Martynov Nenets autonomous district local government law department head on Timan Pechora petroleum basin development at the present time, Mikhail Grigoriev, head of the company Gekon, Vadim Pisarevsky, General Director of GTK-Vostok, LUKOIL, Rosneft, Gazprom about the first results of the Scottish summit. Who would argue that the decarbonization program until 2060 is necessary to stop climate change process, especially in the Russian Arctic, where climate change on the Northern Sea Route is running  very active. This worries everyone, and Oleg Davydov, vice-president of Nenets people Yasavey association from Naryan Mar  reminded  to all NSRA conference participants and specially to  gas and oil companies how vulnerable the tundra is to any technological intervention. And in the new Russian province  Vostok -oil, where Rosneft is having  the operator position of the project, should remember well.  But Russia remains a leading oil and gas power and a reliable global exporter of energy resources. And the energy sector of our country will not run ahead of the locomotive. Otherwise, the recent rise in the price of pipe line gas will be repeated. And that is not good  at all neither the exporter nor all the importing countries of our energy resources .

The conversation withing NSRA conference was highly professional, open-minded , interesting. Our American, Norwegian, and Swedish colleagues joined in, but did not participate in the discussions. That is why we have minimized the time of translation into English of the participants ' reports during the conference . However, all the slides were presented in English-which is the official language of highly respected  Arctic Council which is celebrating its 25 years annivessary since to be created in Ottawa. We just remind you  that Russia is having  chair in this respected organization established in Ottawa until May 2023. MGIMO Professor Yulia Zvorykina, one of the leading Russian experts in the negotiation process with the big Arctic 8 countries, spoke shortly but very interesting about the main issues of this work..

By November 23 , 2021 , the conference participants decided to develop and submit a resolution of the conference to the Government of the Russian Federation . Moreover, all participants were unanimous in the opinion that NSRA the course  for the  international  cooperation, including joint Arctic research work, is the only correct one. Such as the joint Arctic and Antarctic expedition on the research vessel “Akademik Treshnikov “under the leadership of NSRA President Arthur Chilingarov, the Russian-Swedish expedition under the leadership of NSRA partner of the Swedish Polar Center on the vessel “Viktor Chernomyrdin” and many others. After all, it is in the course of such studies that we can expect new discoveries and forecasts of the world Arctic science that is really  so important now. And here it is impossible not to recall the wonderful words of Sauli Niinisto, the President of our Arctic neighbor Finland: "If we will lose the Arctic, we will lose the whole world."   Let's all remember this, avoiding any unnecessary sabre

On behalf of NSRA council   

Vladimir Kharlov, Vice-President of NSRA, member of the Working group on socio-economic development of the Russian Arctic under the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.