Russian Arctic regional development aspects: the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Russian Arctic policy is determined by tow legal acts: “Fundamentals of State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic for the period until 2020 and beyond”and “Strategy for development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (RFAZ) and the national security for the period up to 2020” 1. The Strategy contains priority issues of the RFAZ and its development: social and economic development, ecological security, development of science and technologies and establishment of the information and telecommunication infrastructure.

It is necessary to improve the system of state management for social and economic development of the Russian Arctic to ensure effective implementation of the state policy in the Arctic. To do this, one should solve the problems of legal status of the Arctic territories, develop mechanisms and tools for their regulation and sustainable development and take into account the international experience of the Arctic countries. Over the years, the public authorities of the Arctic regions have raised questions about the need to strengthen the state's role in regulating the economy of the Arctic territories 2; use of fiscal measures, establishment of the new industrial, innovation, environmental and social policies, improvement of the state support system for the Far North due to extreme climatic conditions and low quality of life of the population 3.

Current legislation is not fully designed for territories with the extreme climatic conditions, remote areas and their economy and social sphere. The legal framework of the state support of social and economic development in the Arctic requires a radical transformation aimed at creating conditions for ensuring the quality of life for northerners. So far the current legislation lacks the federal law “On the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation” and there is a problem of the legal definition of maritime and land territory of the Russian Arctic, which should be fundamental for the state Arctic policy.

In accordance with the presidential decree “On the part of the land territory of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation” 2nd of May 2014, № 296, the term “Arctic territories” is referred to five coastal areas of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), with direct access to the Arctic Ocean.

However, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) considers 13 ulus (districts): Abyisky, Allaikhovsky,

Anabarsky, Bulunsky, Verkhnekolymsky, Verkhoyansky, Zhigansky, Momsky, Nizhnekolymsky,

Oleneksky, Srednekolymsky, Ust--‐Jansky and Eveno--‐Bytanayskiy a part of the Arctic. 11 of these districts had a legal status of a part of the Russian Arctic in the draft of the federal law “On the

Arctic zone of the Russian Federation” (2013, January).

Why 13 northern districts of Yakutia should be included in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation

The distinctive feature of the Arctic territory of Yakutia is its location --‐ north of the Arctic Circle (66°33' north latitude). This fact together with the integrity of the natural and agricultural territorial complexes and connection of the transport system with the Northern Sea Route, in our opinion, correspond to the priority areas of the Strategy and the position of a number of prominent scientists and researchers on the composition of the Russian Arctic [1, 2, 3].Yakutia is the largest area (3.1 mln km2) of Russia, over 40% of its territory is located north of the Arctic Circle. Its water areas of the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea are 30% of the Arctic seas.

13 municipal districts of Yakutia have identical climatic conditions — Arctic and Subarctic climate and are absolutely and extremely uncomfortable areas for living. The Yakut Arctic has the mainland cold pole. In 19th century in Verkhoyansk the temperature --‐67.8°C was registered there

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and the depth of the permafrost was 1.5 km. The average duration of the heating period in all 13

districts is more than 9 months [4].

Table 1

Meteorological data on 13 districts of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

№	Districts	The average annual air temperature, °С	Minimum air temperature , °С	The average monthly air temperature in January, °С	The average duration of the heating period, days
1	Abyisky	--‐16,8	--‐55,0	--‐41,5	276
2	Allaikhovsky	--‐14,7	--‐54,4	--‐34,2	319
3	Anabarsky	--‐14,6	--‐60,0	--‐34,8	310
4	Bulunsky	--‐14,0	--‐61,0	--‐34,9	328
5	Verkhnekolymsky	--‐11,2	--‐58,8	--‐36,7	269
6	Verkhoyansky	--‐14,4	--‐67,6	--‐44,5	273
7	Zhigansky	--‐11,8	--‐62,2	--‐39,1	277
8	Momsky	--‐14,2	--‐62,1	--‐44,2	272
9	Nizhnekolymsky	--‐12,8	--‐55,0	--‐34,1	297
10	Oleneksky	--‐12,7	--‐64,2	--‐39,6	287
11	Srednekolymsky	--‐12,3	--‐58,0	--‐37,0	281
12	Ust--‐Jansky	--‐14,4	--‐59,8	--‐38,3	301
13	Eveno--‐Bytanayskiy	--‐14,4	--‐56,1	--‐38,8	293

In addition, all 13 districts (ulus) have other specific Arctic features: first , the spot location of industry and low population density; secondly , remoteness from the major industrial centers, transport and energy networks, high resource consumption and dependence of economy and livelihood on the supply of fuel, food and essential goods and its delivery from the central regions of Russia.

Socio--‐economic problems of the Arctic in the most concentrated form are manifested in the housing sector, which is characterized by a high proportion of emergency and dilapidated housing; a high cost of fuel, food and essential commodities; difficulties in sales for traditional industries of the North; and a lack of modern processing industry. The population density is 15 times lower than outside the Arctic zone (0, 04 people per 1 km2) [5].

13 Arctic districts of Yakutia consist of 86 urban and rural settlements. On the 1st of January 2014, the population of the Arctic districts was 69,395 people or 7.3% of the total population of the Republic; the proportion of rural population was 60.8%. Since 1990, the population of Arctic has declined by more than 2 times, and migration loss increased by 1.5 times4. Such negative demographic processes could be observed in all areas of the Arctic; the largest decline in population is observed in Ust--‐Jansky and Nizhnekolymskiy and caused by the closing of factories and plants there.

Table 2

Territory and density of the population of the 13 districts of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

№	Districts	Territory, thousands km2	Population (01.01.2014) people	Density persons/km2	Major town
	Total	1608,8	69,395	0,04
1	Abyisky	69,4	4,196	0,06	Belaja Gora
2	Allaikhovsky	107,3	2,764	0,03	Cho kurdah
3	Anabarsky	55,6	3,403	0,06	Saskilah
4	Bulunsky	223,6	8,507	0,04	Tiksi
5	Verkhnekolymsky	67,8	4,317	0,07	Zitjanka
6	Verkhoyansky	137,4	11,665	0,09	Bagatai
7	Zhigansky	140,2	4,245	0,03	Zhigansk
8	Momsky	104,6	4,237	0,04	Honuu
9	Nizhnekolymsky	87,1	4,414	0,05	Chepsky
10	Oleneksky	318,0	3,963	0,01	Olenek
11	Srednekolymsky	125,2	7,535	0,06	Srednekolimsk
12	Ust--‐Jansky	120,3	7,359	0,06	Depytatsky
13	Eveno--‐Bytanayskiy	52,3	2,790	0,05	Baagai--‐Alita

13 districts were included in RFAZ because of the unity of their natural and economic systems, transport nets and infrastructure that creates: 1) Leno--‐Anabarsky, 2) Yano--‐Indigirsky, 3) Kolimsky clusters 5. Districts are united into clusters depending on delivery of goods along the northern rivers: the Lena, the Anabar, the Yana, the Indigirka and the Kolyma Rivers, flowing into the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea (Arctic Ocean). Lena--‐Anabar cluster includes the territories of Anabarsky, Bulunsky, Oleneksky and Zhigansky districts, united by the transport network of the Anabar and the Lena Rives. OJSC “ALROSA” and OJSC “Almazi Anabara” are conducting mining and exploration on the territory of all Arctic districts of the Republic. On the Lena--‐Anabarsky cluster territory some deposits of diamonds have been found. In Oleneksky district the “Rosteh” company together with private investors has began developing the “Tomtor” field of 250 km2, one of the largest in the world. The reserves of rare metals are estimated at 154 million tons of ore. Planned investments are equal 30 billion rubles for 6 years 6. On the territory of the district there is also the Zhigansky oil and gas area.

Yano--‐Indigirka cluster includes Allaihovsky, Abyisky, Verkhoyansk, Momsky, Ust--‐Jansky and Eveno--‐Bytanayskiy districts. Geological exploration, historically formed complex for the extraction of ore and minerals (especially tin and gold), as well as the long--‐term plans for the development of new deposits and the creation of transport infrastructure make it possible to assess the areas of the Yana--‐Indigirka cluster. The “Kyuchus” deposit consists of: gold — 175.3 tons and silver — 26.5 tons. The reserves of gold on the deposit amount to more than 140 tons. Deposits “Sentachan” and “Sarilah” in the Oimyakonsky district are the only antimony deposits in Russia, where production is carried out. The Eveno--‐Bytanayskiy area specializes in Arctic reindeer herding, so necessary for the indigenous population. Abyisky region has deposits of gold, coal, niobium, tantalum and semiprecious materials (agate and carnelian) and building materials (basalt). The Momsky district has deposits of gold, plumbum, zinc, tin, gemstones, coal, jade, construction materials and the oil and gas basin of the Momsky--‐Zyryansky.

Kolyma cluster includes the territory Nizhnekolymsky, Srednekolymsky and Verkhnekolymsky districts. Union of these territories and their single cluster is possible due to an integrated river transport network on the Kolyma River from the perspectives of the coal export from the “Zyrjanka” deposit through the ports of the Northern Sea Route to the world markets.

No doubts, the fishery complex of the Arctic zone of Yakutia in the one, as long as the valuable species of aquatic fish are spawning in the estuaries of the Arctic regions in the seas of t e Arctic Ocean.

T e s are of Yakutia accounts for over 30% of t e Russian wildlife and more t an 10% of the world’s one [6]. In the polar regions of Yakutia, 66 Specially Protected Areas (SPA) are disposed. The total of SPAs is 555,100 km2. In the Arctic districts of the Republic SPAs occupy 12.3% 7. The SPAs are the guarantee of preservation of the Arctic nature, its ecosystems and biological resources.

Four districts of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) have the status of “national” for the purpose of protecting and preserving the indigenous culture and language. When one of such districts — Anabarsky (Dolgano--‐Evenksky) is included in the RFAZ and its surrounding areas: the National Zhigansk Evenki district, Oleneksky Evenki national area, Eveno--‐Bytanayskiy--‐national area are not included in the RFAZ. In these areas, it is planned to create a single tourist--‐recreational cluster in order to maintain traditional activities of indigenous peoples of the North; to contribute to the comprehensive development of coastal fisheries and expanding the network of innovative enterprises for processing of aquatic biological resources and reindeer products. Moreover, some measures have been already implemented and they fully meet the main requirements of sustainable development of the Arctic districts in respect of the preservation and development of the traditional lifestyles of the North.

All of the above justifies the need for the inclusion of Abyisky, Allaikhovsky, Anabarsky, Bulunsky, Verkhnekolymsky, Verkhoyansky, Zhigansky, Momsky, Nizhnekolymsky, Oleneksky, Srednekolymsky, Ust--‐Yansky and Eveno--‐Bytanaysky districts of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.

Legal regulation of the Arctic and northern districts of Yakutia

In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has accumulated positive experience in regulating legal, economic and cultural development of the Arctic and Northern ulus (districts) of Yakutia, which could be of interest to the authorities of other regions of the Russian Arctic. The starting point of the legislative process was the adoption of the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) on the 2nd of December 1995, № 521 “On Special Measures of State Support of traditional industries, livelihoods and social protection of the rural population of the Arctic regions”. According to this legal act, 13 districts of the Republic: Abyisky, Allaikhovskiy, Anabarsky, Bulunsky, Verkhnekolymskiy, Verkhoyansky, Zhigansky, Momsky, Nizhnekolymsky, Srednekolym--‐ sky, Oleneksky, Ust--‐Jansky and Eveno--‐Bytanayskiy districts, located north of the Arctic Circle (66°33'NL) are considered as the Arctic territories and proclaimed a special economic zone and the area of state protectionism. So, it was the way the Arctic districts of Yakutia became an independent object of state administration in mid 1990s.

Over the past 20 years, due to the absence of any other legal acts, Russian Federal authorities has been determining the composition of the Arctic areas of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in accordance with the legal act mentioned above. This document is fundamental for dozens of regulatory legal acts of Yakutia on social and economic development of the Arctic districts. It is sufficient time to recognize the current practice a precedent and use it for the development of legal acts on sustainable development of the Yakutia and its Arctic territories.

Analysis of the republican legislation in the sphere of socio--‐economic development of the Arctic and northern areas shows that the first place is occupied by the questions of “northern delivery” — a special mode of cargoes delivery to the Arctic territories, centralized supply of essential goods; the second place is for the financial issues, subsidies for transport and aviation in the Arctic and maintenance of housing and communal services; the third place — the state support and retention of young professionals, teachers and health workers in the Arctic.

Special attention is devoted to the legislative support of preservation and development of reindeer herding, indigenous culture, language and education. In the long term perspective, it is expected to move towards more effective model of development — namely, balanced solutions of the problems of industry and traditional management of the North with the necessary preservation of natural ecosystems and biodiversity.

At present, there are developed and adopted programs of socio--‐economic development of municipalities, basic for the sustainable development of these territory. Existing state programs for economic and social development of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) contain some special activities and routines for the development of the Arctic ulus and places of compact residence of national minorities of t e Nort .

In 2014, the Year of the Arctic, 34 Republican legal acts on social and economic development, including 4 decrees and 7 orders of the Head of the Republic; 8 resolutions and 15 orders of the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

The Decree of the Head of the Republic Egor Borisov, signed on the 18th of August 2014, № 2824, establishes the State Committee of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for the Arctic 8. Resolution of the Government of the Republic Sakha (Yakutia), signed on the 24th of November 2014, №420 approved the Regulations on the State Committee of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for the Arctic and its Board. The State Committee is an executive body of the Republic, conducting inter--‐sectoral coordination of the development of the Arctic and northern areas; improving the system of public administration; implementing measures of state support of traditional industries of the North and regulation of traditional fishery, as well as regulation of issues within its jurisdiction. The aims, power and rights of the State Committee are set, as well as its responsibilities. One of the aims of the State Committee is the interaction with federal and republican bodies to amend legislation of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in order to provide the sustainable development of the Arctic and northern areas of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) 9. The State Committee is able to participate in clarifying the geographical boundaries of the RFAZ, its southern boundary as well and in clarifying the list and the legal status of municipalities not included in RFAZ.

Social and economic development of the Yakut Arctic

Socio--‐economic development, as noted above, is determined by the presence of natural resources. On the territory of the Arctic zone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (hereinafter Yakut Arctic) there are more than 100 kinds of minerals, metals, diamonds, oil, gas, tungsten, copper, antimony, gold, silver and other natural resources, including deposits of diamonds near the rivers: Anabar, Olenyok, Molodo and Motorchuna; the “Tomtor” deposit of rare metals; the tin deposit

Deputatskoye”; the gold deposit “Kyuchus” and etc 10. The future of the Yakut Arctic is largely dependent on the further development of existing deposits.

It should be noted that the development of mineral resources of the Yakut Arctic is going on based on the “Scheme of the complex development of productive forces, transport and energy of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) until 2020”, approved by the Government of the Republic on the 6th of September 2006, № 411 11. This paper represents an alternative approach to determining the scenarios of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the future up to 2020.

Currently, socio--‐economic development of the Yakut Arctic is also dependent on the development of energy and transport infrastructure, including the network of seasonal roads (ice roads): “Anabar” (1167 km of the road “Vilyui” — Mirnyi — Udachny — Olenek — Saskilar —

Urung–Khaja); “Jana” (533 km of the road “Kolima” — Topolinoe — Tokuma — Batagai — Ust--‐

Kuiga–Deputatsky — Belaja Gora); “Arktika” (Burustaah, 1103--‐th km of the road Kolima — Sasir —

Ugolnoe — Zirjanka — Srednekolimsk — Andrushkino — Chersky); “Indigir” Ust--‐Nera — Honu —

Belaja Gora — Chokurdakh; “Ojmjakon” (Kyubyumya, 752 km of the road “Kolyma” — Kuydusun

— border of the Magadan region); “Verkhoyanye” (Batagay--‐Alyta--‐Verhoyansk--‐Batagai) and

“Edigeen” (Balagachcha — Kirovo — Bahanay — Zhigansk) and on the revival of the Northern Sea

Route, which is used for the northern delivery to all 13 districts (ulus) of the Yakut Arctic 12..

North delivery is a set of the annual measures to ensure the Arctic territories of vital goods

(especially food and oil) before the winter season. Northern delivery as a phenomenon is existing due to the following reasons: 1) extreme climatic conditions of the Arctic and North; 2) The lack of their own production base of many industrial and agricultural goods; 3) Distance of the main industrial regions of the country, which are thousands of kilometers away, makes it difficult and very expensive for individuals and legal entities to deliver goods and by themselves, even in the summer months; 4) complete lack of transport infrastructure, except for air or maritime traffic in most parts of the Arctic and North. A short navigation period along the Northern Sea Route (about

2 months), rivers (from 20 days to 4 months) and the actual off--‐road in the Yakut Arctic make the timing of delivery account for more than 1 year sometimes13.

Northern Delivery System as a centralized supply of energy resources and food products is in crisis after the collapse of the USSR and disappearance of its ministries and departments responsible for the northern delivery [7, p.13]. Yakutia has no alternative to the current scheme of northern delivery. Railway or road transportation is not able to ensure the delivery of all the necessary goods to the Arctic regions; there is no necessary infrastructure and the cost of transport in such conditions is significantly higher than the river transportation. Moreover, polar aviation cannot be an alternative there. Therefore, the main carrier is the river fleet, which is going out to the Lena River and to the Laptev Sea and delivers goods through the northern rivers. Of course, in such a situation it is necessary to take urgent measures for the modernization of the freight river fleet, which is requiring qualitative renewal and quantitative build--‐up, as well as the increase in the number of dredgers of the “river--‐sea” class at the mouth of the northern rivers. In the future, we are considering options for the use of revived Northern Sea Route. Special attention is required in order to improve the economic, management and financial mechanisms of the northern delivery. Justification of the ways of northern delivery mechanism is based on the principles of optimization of the economic barriers for the businesses to entry northern markets; --‐ it was done in 2006, in the thesis written by Y. K. Zafesov [8]. The thesis is about financial resources; widening the list of socially important food products, which are subject to measures of state support; the rational use of the transport system; tax breaks and other issues.

The main measures aimed at improving the quality of life of northerners include the modernization of social infrastructure: education, health, culture, development of telemedicine and small aircraft system, distance learning technologies and the Internet. Decree of the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) E.A. Borisov, signed on the 25th of December 2013, №2415, proclaimed the year 2014 the Year of the Arctic Yakutia and the program “Socio--‐economic development of the Arctic and northern regions of the Republic for 2014--‐2017 and the period up to 2020” (hereinafter the Program) was adopted 14. The Program implemented an integrated approach aimed at transition from the policy of optimizing to the strategy for integrated socio--‐ economic development. The main targets are linked to improving the quality of life of the population of the Arctic regions. The Program was designed in accordance with the “pool approach” to the specialization and development of the territory. The unifying feature and competitive advantage of all the regions of the Arctic zone is their access to the Arctic Ocean and to the system of rivers flowing into it: the Anabar, the Lena, the Yana, the Indigirka and the Kolyma

Rivers. Districts are located in t e basins of t ese rivers and form common natural and economic system. Their unity is also maintained by the “northern delivery” of goods, logistics and export turnover of products.

The Program was started in 2014. Investment in 2014 for all 13 Arctic districts amounted to 2.34 billion rubles. Turnover, retail trade and volume of paid services increased significantly. Good results were achieved in housing sector. In 2014 it was built more than 18,900 m2 of housing, w ic is 16.7% more t an in 2013. T e number of small and medium--‐sized businesses as increased by 5.8% in Yakut Arctic. In Abyisky, Zhigansky, Srednekolymsky and Eveno--‐Bytantaisky districts the growth exceeded 10% 15.

In order to develop transport infrastructure in 2014, the local government increased subsidizing the passenger traffic on socially significant routes, municipalities allocated the resources from the state budget for the purchase of off--‐road vehicles. Developing the energy and utility infrastructure, about 450 houses were joined a centralized source of heating and 46 apartment buildings were repaired. A solar power plant was constructed in the village of Eyik of the Olenek district and in Kubergene village of the Abyysky District; a wind power station is constructed in the village of Bykov Mis of the Bulunsky District. In addition, automated diesel power plants are built in the village Khaiyr of the Tumat Ust--‐Yana district and in the village of Bakhani of the Zhigansky district; new boiler stations appeared in Zhigansk and Yunkyur villages of the Verkhoyansk district. 116 municipal contracts to purchase the special equipment for the communal areas of the Arctic were signed 16.

Among the positive changes that have occurred in the Year of the Arctic, the first vice--‐ premier of the government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Alekseev Peter rightly named: the increased funding for the development of the Yakut Arctic; the construction of social facilities (kindergartens, schools, medical stations, sports facilities); renewal and modernization of the housing; the development of energy, utilities and transport infrastructure; health, culture and scientific development; creating new industries; marketing of agricultural products of the Arctic districts; the growth of financial support of traditional sectors of the northern economy: reindeer herding and fishing; growth of the small business in the Arctic districts 17. Many of activities mentioned above got significant support and appropriate funding. According to P. Alekseev, in 2015 the amount of funding for the traditional industries of the North increased by 43.4% or 246 mln rubles. In 2015 the construction of facilities for slaughter, reindeer bases, fences, plants for fish processing are expected to be built. These activities had no funding for decades.

In August 2014 the Republican authorities established a state--‐owned enterprise “Roads of the Arctic” to address the issues of construction, repair and maintenance of roads in the Arctic. The company operates the roads with the length of 3,700 km. Boats of small capacity are bought to organize the passenger transportation in the northern districts. As part the federal program of the northern airports development, it is conducted a design and reconstruction of eight airports in t e Yakut Arctic.

Thus, in 2014 in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) laid the foundation for the sustainable development of its Arctic districts. It is planned to modernize the fleet of the Lena, Yana, and Kolyma shipping companies, sea port of Tiksi and the restoration of coastal service infrastructure. The construction of a series of self--‐contained power plants for local consumers (including floating nuclear power plants for companies developing the deposits “Tomtor” and “Kyuchus”) is also in plans for the nearest future.

The solution to these and other problems is largely determined by the quality of training and professional competence of people working in the Arctic. Required specializations are: oil and gas geology, technology of hydrocarbons’ processing, forestry and wood processing industry, road construction, operation of road, rail and river transport, ecological and ethnographic tourism.

An urgent task remains to attract highly qualified personnel in the Arctic districts and to ensure their individual housing. In the Republic there is a program aimed at providing housing for teaching staff going to remote rural schools in inaccessible Arctic ulus. Effects of the program “Providing housing for teaching staff in rural schools and medical personnel of the health care institutions of the Arctic and northern ulus” and the Yakut governmental program “Providing high quality housing 2012--‐2016” are that its members continue teaching at their schools and provide quality of education according to the full scope of national standards and contribute to the development of the Arctic. Another important factor is the fact that many participants got families and they are actively involved in public life and are youth leaders.

The disappointing results of the migration remain in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Number retired in the 21st century exceeds the number of arrivals, which is visually represented in a diagram of the Center for Strategic Studies of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the head of the CSS — V.I. Kondratyeva.

□ Прибыло □ Выбыло

Picture 1. URL: http://src--‐‐content/uploads/2013/11/Itogi--‐

Center for Strategic Studies of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) takes part in the study of the quality of life in the Arctic as part of an international project coordinated by Stefansson Arctic Institute (Akureyri, Iceland) under the name “Arctic social indicators” (hereinafter — ASI). The ASI project was initiated by the Stefansson Arctic Institute in 2006 as an extension to the Report ”Human Development in the Arctic” and aimed at developing social indicators to ensure the monitoring of human development in the Arctic for a long time 18.

According to the National Agency “Information Center under the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)”; general manager — A.D. Bravin, criteria for evaluating the attractiveness of the regions for the Russians willing to change residence, were located as follows: “the first place — available housing and high levels of social security; the second — opportunities for education and mental and physical development of children; the third — professional and career development opportunities; followed by the work based on the specialization, sports and cultural activities, friendly attitude to visitors, comfortable climatic conditions, support of the region when moving to a new place of residence” 19. The research led to the conclusion that the general tendency of inter--‐ethnic conflict in modern Yakutia is quite obvious — the confrontation between migrants and “local” population, regardless of their race or nationality. It confirms the idea that in modern Russia ethnic conflicts are generated mainly by the intense growth of the non--‐integrated migrant groups that differ in their everyday culture from the majority of the host population 20.

In April 2014 President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin supported the initiative of the Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) E.A. Borisov to hold new large--‐scale research expeditions in Yakutia in order to study its economic potential. As a result of comprehensive scientific expedition of the RAS “Yakutia — the region of the new development” some recommendations for its further economic development will be prepared as well as scientific suggestions for the implementation of the state policy aimed at further development of the human potential of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The second complex expedition of the RAS to study the productive forces on a new stage of industrial development of the Republic of Sakha

(Yakutia) (KYAE--‐2015) will be held in the period between the year 2015 and 2020.

In 2015 it is 90 years since the beginning of the Yakut Expedition of the Academy of

Sciences of the USSR. The results of the expedition gave a powerful impetus to socio--‐economic development and creation of the commercial, industrial and agricultural infrastructure of Yakutia.

High mortality rate was won after the establishment of a network of scientific, medical and social institutions of the SB RAS. Yakut complex expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences published its materials on natural resources, economics, geography, ethnography, and sanitation in 36

volumes of "Materials", 16 volumes of “Scientific works”; reports on the progress of expedition groups were published in a collection of papers called “Yakutia” and publications of the Yakut

(Sibiryakov) historical and ethnographic expedition; two maps and a variety of other scientific works.

Conclusion

Sustainable development of the Russian Arctic cannot be considered separately from the legal issues related to the northern territories of Russia in general. In this regard, we believe that the development of the regulatory framework for the Arctic should be parallel with the updating the legislation on social and labor guarantees for residents of the Far North and Arctic zone of the Russian Federation .

The composition of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation should include administrative and municipalities, taking into account: the integrity of their natural and economic complexes; communication of their transport system with the Northern Sea Route, Arctic sea waters and the northern rivers; priorities of the country's economy and national security, using the political and geographic criteria generally accepted in the international community — north from the Arctic Circle (66°33'NL).

Ibid.

Definition of the Yakut Arctic zone is possible due to specific national and economic interests, as well as extreme climatic conditions of the area. So, we suggest to add to the 6th paragraph of the Annex to the Presidential Decree, signed on the 2nd of May 2014, № 296 “On the land territory of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation” after the words “Territories of the Allaikhovsky Ulus (District), the Anabar National (Dolgan--‐Evenk) Ulus (District), the Bulunsky Ulus (District), the Nizhnekolymsky Ulus ( District), the Ust--‐Yansky Ulus (District)" the phrase: “the Abyysky Ulus (District), the Verkhnekolymsky Ulus (District), the Verkhoyansky Ulus (District), Zhigansky Evenk Ulus ( District), Momsky Ulus (District), Oleneksky Evenki National Ulus (District), Srednekolymsky Ulus (District), Eveno--‐Bytantaysky National Ulus (District)” and to the following text of t e document as well.

In addition, intergovernmental and tax policies in relation to the Arctic regions of Russia, in our view, should take into account the specifics of managing extreme arctic conditions. For example, it would be appropriate to give the Arctic territories a part of the customs duties and taxes for the use of natural resources. This would actually increase income of the Arctic territories and give them opportunity to use more funding for their sustainable development. At the same time it would be useful to free small and medium business and indigenous communities from taxation for 10 years. Small and medium business, indigenous communities provide livelihoods and employment, and in many respects, they are town--‐forming institutions. Also, it is important to determine the measures of state support and subsidies for their activities.

It is impossible to solve the problems of the arctic territories without a legal framework that would ensure economic motivation and incentives, quality of life of northerners, including innovative development of social infrastructure. In this regard, we believe that one of the main challenges in implementing the Strategy for the Development of the Arctic zone, especially labor and pension aspects, is to improve the system of safeguards and compensation provided by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law “On State Guarantees and compensations for people working and living in the Far North and equivalent areas” issued on the 19th of February 1993, № 4520--‐1. In new economic conditions it is extremely important to develop a new concept of the Arctic “labor factor”, based on the Soviet version of the Northern “regional factor”; to change the methodology for its charging; to set the size of the Arctic employment rate to wages, benefits, scholarships and compensations and the order of its application; to increase financial compensation for moving to the Arctic area and for trips for privileged categories of citizens and to set higher premiums for work experience in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. It is advisable to determine the measure of responsibility of employers for the provision of the legislation of Northern labor guarantees and compensation, and on the other — to establish mechanisms for compensation of real costs to employers for providing guarantees and compensations.

The Labour Code of the Russian Federation mentions that the work of employees, engaged in work in areas with special climatic conditions, to be paid at a higher rate. For the first time it is mentioned in the second part of the Article 146 and then this thesis is being developed in Articles

• 148,    302, 315, 316 and 317of the Labor Code. We propose to exclude regional factors and interest

allowances from the calculation of the minimum wage (MW).

There is a need of development and adoption of a legal act of the RF Government “On measures of state support for reindeer herding” with paragraphs on legal measures aimed at preservation and development of reindeer herding as a modern indigenous family occupation, educating of children of herders in small schools and providing them with health and social care due to the fact that indigenous population of the Arctic are the most vulnerable groups in market conditions.

The adoption of the legal acts discussed above and other measures mentioned in the article would contribute to effective implementation of the “Strategy of development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and the national security for the period until 2020” and improving the quality of life of northerners.