Arctic mining cities development of the Komi Republic

We analyze the problem of the difficult combination of natural resource, production and social aspects of the single-industry towns’ development based on the extraction of minerals against the background of the Arctic theme of economic and geographical research. We use the example of Usinsk, Vorkuta and Inta - Arctic cities of the Komi Republic. The information about the resources and reserves of mineral raw materials in the territories adjacent to the aforementioned cities indicates a high potential for their development. However, the volumes of fuel and raw material production are mainly influenced by other factors - market conditions, distance from the main consumers, the technological level of processing industries, extreme and difficult climatic conditions of life and organization of production. To emphasize the importance of these factors, the article takes into account the general situation in the mineral resource sector of the Russian economy, which affects the state of the Arctic regions. The paper presents the dynamics of oil, natural gas, coal production, as well as volumes of shipped goods and investments in fixed capital, respectively, in Usinsk, Vorkuta and Inta, traces the dynamics of their population and those employed in production, and reflects the specifics of the formation of municipal budgets. Coal mining in Inta has been completely stopped due to problems with its sale; in Vorkuta, it has decreased significantly and the probability of further decrease is high. Oil for now provides a relatively stable position for Usinsk, but this city will also face the problem of "falling production”. As the reserves of the developed hydrocarbon deposits are exhausted, the socio-economic situation of single-industry towns will worsen. Their prospects largely depend on a comprehensive approach to the development of territories with the involvement of other resources based on regional and expeditionary methods of their development. The main factor is the scientific and technological factor in both the extraction and processing of mineral raw materials, opening up new directions for the creation of production complexes, where the chemical-technological scheme of hydrocarbon use will become the main one, and the fuel and energy one will be auxiliary. The possibility of diversifying the Arctic regions’ economy on the basis of production not related to subsoil use is not excluded.