We will hold the next Conference on October 29 based on the decision of the Council of the Northern Sea Route Association. The Conference’s subject will be “The Northern Sea Route and the Basis of the Russian Federation’s State Policy in the field of infrastructure, shipbuilding, energy, digital development and international cooperation”.
This is a very complicated time for us all. It is possible to refer to COVID-19 pandemic and to postpone the Conference but we continue to work even under such conditions. The Arctic is the region where the Northern Sea Route lies; the region which is one of the priorities for the Russian Federation.
The NSR Association had to adopt the final decision regarding the Conference – it would be held online. This has been decided on Friday, October 23, after holding consultations with the Moscow Mayor’s Office and negotiations with our partner Igor Vasilievich Tonkovidov, Director General of the PAO Sovkomflot, the company where we have planned to hold the Conference. Nevertheless, the Control Center of the NSRA Conference that would be held online will be located at the Office of the PAO Sovkomflot (6, Gasheka str., Moscow). Vladimir Galaktionovich Kharlov, Vice-President of the NSRA for partner relations, will be the moderator. Along with the moderator, the online Conference will be moderated either by the Head or one of the Deputy Heads of the PAO Sovkomflot, the leading crude oil and LNG tanker transport operator of the NRS. Working languages of the Conference are Russian and English. The NSR Association will provide interpretation from/into English. The Conference would be held from 09:30 to 17:30 (Moscow Time) on October 29, 2020.
On October 28 all participants of the Conference would be provided with all the necessary information regarding connection to the Conference with the use of the Zoom platform. Prior to the Conference all the participants and partners will receive new booklets of the NSR Association and all other materials of the Conference to their emails. Artur Chilingarov, Russian Presidential Envoy for Cooperation in the Arctic and the Antarctic, has been recommended by the President of the Russian Federation to isolate himself until November 01. The Association’s Council has decided to do its utmost to ensure Artur Nikolaevich’s online participation in our Conference.
We would like to especially thank the business circles as it is they who are the cornerstone of the development of the Russian Arctic Zone. Our special gratitude also goes to our partners and good friends: FSUE Atomflot, PAO NOVATEK, the Far East State Shipping Company (FESSCO), the Administration of the Northern Sea Route and the Russian Marine Rescue Service.
We are happy that our new participants (a French company Ponant, the Siberian Medical Centre and the Smart Arctic company) will, for the first time, attend the Conference. We are proud that our Head is Artur Nikolaevich Chilingarov. He is a legend who has recently turned 81.
We avail ourselves of this opportunity to once again thank our friends – Ambassadors of Iceland, Finland, Canada and USA for their warm congratulations conveyed to Artur Nikolaevich on the occasion of his birthday. We are looking forward to once again welcome our Finnish friends from the Arctic Shipping, our Swedish partners from the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, our Chinese, Indian, Korean and Japanese friends at the online Conference.
Vladimir Galaktionovich Kharlov, Vice-President of the NSRA, made a very interesting report on 29th of September and this practice (the use of the Zoom platform) will be successfully used at the Office of the PAO Sovkomflot (6, Gasheka str., Moscow).
We’re looking forward to this Conference where Árni Þór Sigurðsson, Ambassador of Iceland who is the current Chair of the Arctic Council, will speak on his vision of the development of the Arctic Strategy. All regions of the Russian Arctic from Murmansk to the Kamchatka Krai, our Norwegian, French, Japanese, Swedish and Chinese partners confirmed their participation in the online Conference.
A Japanese company MOL, a member of the Arctic LNG 2, also plans to make a report and we hope that this famous hi-tech company will become the NSR Association’s full partner.
For the first time the Conference will be attended by Dmitry Korostelev, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Kamchatka Krai. A new NSR transportation hub will be created in the region for trans-shipment of cargo from ice-class tankers to conventional vessels. The Conference will be attended by representatives of territories of the Russian Arctic. Khanty-Mansii Autonomous Region, the Komi Republic, the Republic of Karelia and the Sakhalin region will participate in the Conference as Observers. The NRS Association’s new partner - The Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin – will make a report on the subject “Science’s role in the development of the Russian Arctic”.
We are ready to hold the Conference and we are looking forward for the reports and presentations. We remind that the time allotted for a speech/report is not more than 15 minutes plus 5 minutes for the Q&A session. The Arctic Herald, Russia’s leading magazine on the Arctic who is our partner, will publish a big article on the outcomes of the Conference on November 25, 2020. The issue of the magazine will be printed on November 26.
We remind that the Northern Sea Route Association will hold a visiting session at the Saint-Petersburg on 26th of November where the delegation will, based on an invitation extended by our partner – Alexey Vasilievich Kadilov, Director General of the OJSC “Baltic Shipyard”, see the place where the power of the Russian Arctic is being forged – the Icebreaking Fleet of the Russian Federation. We avail ourselves of this opportunity to remind that the maximum number of the participants of the visit is 20 persons and we would like to draw our foreign partners’ attention to the fact that the last day for submission of scanned copies of documents necessary for participation in the visit is October 26. Additionally we plan to visit our partner – FSBI Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.
The next meeting of the Council of the Northern Sea Route Association would be held from 10th to 15th of November in the city of Arkhangelsk where the Council will adopt important decisions on the foundation of an additional Headquarters in the city. Arkhangelsk is not only Russia’s first sea port but is also the provision depot of the NSR. Moreover the first expedition to the Arctic started from the city in 1932.
