The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2022) and Its Arctic Agenda

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The 25th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2022, Forum) was held in St.

Petersburg from June 15 to 18, 2022. Interest in holding it was caused by the fact that it was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic as well as the fact that there have been events over the past 2 years that have dramatically complicated the situation in the world. At the Forum, Russian and international experts, representatives of federal departments and regional authorities, Russian and foreign companies discussed a wide range of pressing problems of the international and national economy. The author of the article, as a participant of the Forum, summarizes the main results of the event, paying special attention to its Arctic issues.

Forum representation

Despite the fact that some countries took active measures to limit the participation of the business community and officials in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, more than 14 thousand people from 130 countries of the world took part in the events, 81 countries sent their official representatives. The Arab Republic of Egypt acted as a guest country of honor at the anniversary event. Its pavilion has become a real decoration of the Forum exhibition.

* © Zhuravel V.P., 2022

The international economic event was attended by over 130 high-ranking officials at the level of vice-presidents and prime ministers of foreign states, heads of foreign cities and regions, foreign ministers, heads of parliaments, leading international organizations and associations, as well as heads of the diplomatic corps.

More than 60 representatives of federal executive and legislative authorities took part in the forum. The forum was attended by delegations from all regions of Russia, 80 of which were led by regional heads. The governors had the opportunity to establish both international contacts and exchange of experience with other regions of the country. 1700 business leaders attended the Forum.

Over four days, 214 events were held, covering a wide range of political, economic, management, technology development, digitalization, environmental, and social development issues. More than 1500 moderators and speakers, Russian and foreign experts made their reports and presentations. The work of the Forum was covered by 3500 media representatives from 33 countries 1.

Business program of the Forum

The main topic of the Forum is “New World — New Opportunities”. Analyzing the main business program of SPIEF-2022, we can single out four thematic areas dedicated to the issues of the global and Russian economy, the social and technological agenda, and human development. Their analysis is given in the speeches of Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, Executive Secretary of the SPIEF Organizing Committee, Anton Kobyakov 2. It should be noted that the idea of the organizers was fully implemented in practice during the four-day work of the Forum.

The first thematic block, “The New Economic Order: Responding to the Challenges of the Time”, included discussions which stated that the changes in global geopolitics and the restructuring of the entire global economy have deep roots and are not short-term in nature. It was noted that the decisions currently being made by the country’s leadership are related to the issues of restoring the Russian economy, taking into account the transformation of world trade, maintaining relations with the SCO, BRICS and EAEU countries. The session participants emphasized that today, as a matter of priority, it is necessary to create a new system of international settlements on a bilateral and multilateral basis; the financial system must ensure the restructuring of the economy in the face of growing credit risks and learn how to finance innovations.

The second track of the business program, “The Russian Economy: New Challenges and Horizons”, was dedicated to the anti-crisis agenda, the investment climate in the regions, the development of the financial market and key industries. During the discussions, experts noted that the economy is smoothly adapting to new challenges, macroeconomic stability is maintained, and all planned social programs are being implemented. It is important to ensure the economic and tech-

REVIEWS AND REPORTS

Valery P. Zhuravel. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum … nological sovereignty of the Russian Federation. The country has enough resources to continue development, reducing attempts at economic and political pressure on the country.

The third block, “Modern Technologies for Humanity: Creating a Responsible Future”, touched upon topical issues of information security and digitalization. The key issue of structural adjustment is new technologies, since their absence leads to the degradation of the economy. It is especially emphasized that there will be no development and breakthrough without private initiative.

The participants of the fourth block, “Investments in Humans – Investments in Development”, discussed issues related to the development of human capital, including those related to the development of creative industries, sports and education. Since 2020, the issue of social protection has come to the forefront in parallel with the state’s increased efforts to provide financial support to various social groups. This has become the main basic condition that has made it possible to begin a systematic transformation of our social system in the interests of people in recent years.

The central event of SPIEF-2022 is the speech of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the plenary meeting on June 17, which was also attended by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev. President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping and President of Egypt Abdelfattah Sisi participated in the video message format. The head of state emphasized the key principles of state development: “The first principle is openness. Truly sovereign states are always committed to equal partnership to contribute to global development. <…> The second principle of our long-term development is the reliance on entrepreneurial freedoms. <…> The third principle is a responsible and balanced macroeconomic policy. … The fourth principle of our development is social justice.... The fifth principle on which Russia builds its economic policy is the priority development of infrastructure. <...> The sixth, cross-cutting, unifying principle of our development is achieving real technological sovereignty, creating an integrated system of economic development, which is independent of foreign institutions as far as critical components are concerned 3.

The traditional cross-country business dialogues with representatives of business communities from Africa, Belarus, the Middle East, Europe, Egypt, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, and Latin America, as well as the EAEU-ASEAN, were successfully held on the sidelines of the SPIEF.

The business program of the event also included breakfast for representatives of pharmaceutical companies, Sber-breakfast and IT-breakfast. On the sidelines of SPIEF, the following events took place: the Russian Forum for Small and Medium Enterprises, the International Youth Economic Forum, the B20 Regional Consultative Forum, the Creative Business Forum and the Medicines Safety Forum, the SPIEF Junior Dialogue and other events.

SPIEF Arctic agenda

The Arctic agenda was a significant one at the Forum, and received a great deal of attention. This was due to the fact that, as part of the plan for the Russian Chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021-2023, the VI International Forum “The Arctic - the Future of the Russian Federation” was canceled due to a number of international reasons caused by powerful sanctions pressure on Russia in the first quarter of 2022, including in the Arctic. It was supposed to take place in April in St. Petersburg with an invitation for more than 3 thousand participants. This event previously contributed to the increase of Russia’s international prestige among the countries of the Arctic Council and was an important platform for communication [1, Zhuravel V.P.].

It was decided that the planned sessions of the forum would be held as part of other upcoming events of the Russian Federation’s chairmanship in the AC and at other international venues.

On March 3, 2022, seven countries of the Arctic Council (AC, Council) — Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the United States — officially refused to participate in events and meetings chaired by Russia, as was reported in their joint statement on the website of the US State Department 4. It should be noted that for more than a quarter of a century, cooperation between the countries of the Council has been stable and consistent, and has never been a hostage to the current international situation.

On June 8, 2022, these countries decided to resume the activities of the AC, but without the participation of Russia. The Telegram channel of the Russian Embassy in the United States quotes the words of Ambassador A. Antonov: “Such a step cannot but cause concern not only for Russia as the current chairman of the Council, but also for the entire international community interested in the further sustainable development of this region. We state that this unique format of interstate interaction continues to be politicized. Decisions on behalf of the Arctic Council, taken without our country, will be illegitimate and violate the principle of consensus stipulated by its governing documents” 5.

In this regard, a separate platform was prepared at the Forum — the stand of the Ministry for Development of Russian Far East of Russia “The Arctic - the Territory of Dialogue”. There were 16 events on the problems of development and exploration of the Arctic, including the official plan for the chairmanship of Russia in the Arctic Council in 2021-2023. It is positive that all this was considered and discussed at one platform, strictly according to the program.

The relevance of the Arctic issues considered at the Forum is due to the fact that problems are accumulating in the Arctic, which require discussion, reflection and solution [2, Leksin V.N., Porfirev B.N.]. They include unclear boundaries of the AZRF, changes in the Arctic (development or re-development of the Arctic territories), people’s respond to risks in their daily activities, climate change and militarization of the Arctic, and specifics of state management of regional development in the Russian Arctic, etc.

Over four days, the Forum widely discussed issues of comprehensive security in the Arctic, shipbuilding and ship repair, telecommunications development and digitalization, education and training, the Northern Sea Route, and human capital in the Arctic, including indigenous peoples of the North. Particular attention was paid to climate change in the region, increasing the role of science, scientific and educational centers in making strategic decisions on the development of the economy, social and spiritual spheres of the Arctic territories. The heads of the Arctic subjects of the Russian Federation presented investment projects of their regions. A number of events were dedicated to the development of tourism in the Arctic.

The main organizer of these events was the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic. Representatives of Roshydromet, the Arctic regions, educational and scientific institutions of the Ministry of Education and Science and the Russian Academy of Sciences took an active part in the Forum.

The Arctic is the most important strategic region for Russia. Therefore, it is no accident that its development and the development of Arctic transport communications are so crucial today. The Northern Sea Route plays a key role here, so the session “Northern Sea Route: International Transport Corridor” was very informative and enlightening. It should be noted that the problem of the Northern Sea Route was also considered in other events, since the NSR is one of the key priorities in the context of the Arctic development. The key issue is to increase traffic along its route until 2030. As Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Trutnev said, a large team of specialists from various departments and companies is currently working together on such a long-term program. It was noted that transit should play an important role in the growth of cargo traffic. In turn, the head of the Ministry for the Development of the Far East, Alexey Chekunkov, said that the contribution of already invested projects carried out on the Northern Sea Route to Russia’s GDP will amount to 35 trillion rubles by 2035, and during this period, thanks to the NSR, the revenue part of the federal budget will increase by 13.5 trillion rubles 6.

The discussion of the problems of the Northern Sea Route continued on June 23 at a meeting of the State Commission for the Development of the Arctic. According to the Secretary of State, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov, the NSR infrastructure development plan provides for the construction of 37 vessels (8 icebreakers, 16 rescue and 13 hydrographic vessels), including icebreakers of “22220” and “Leader” projects. Two of them, the icebreakers Arktika and Sibir, have already been built and are operating on the Northern Sea Route.

In November, it is planned to commission the serial universal nuclear icebreaker Ural. According to the state corporation Rosatom, in order to ensure the sustainable operation of the Northern Sea Route, it is necessary to provide for the construction of an additional 6 icebreakers and a nuclear service vessel. In addition, for the implementation of Arctic investment projects, it is planned to build another 32 ice-class transport ships. 15 gas carriers are planned to be built at the Zvezda shipyard. The plans include the construction of additional vessels for transporting investors’ products along the Northern Sea Route 7.

The measures taken contributed to a significant increase in the volume of cargo transportation along the NSR. Thus, the volume of cargo transportation in 2021 amounted to about 34.9 million tons. This is almost 2 million tons more than in 2020, when 32.9 million tons were transported, of these: 7.9 million tons of oil, 20.6 million tons of LNG and gas condensate, 0.1 million tons of coal, 0.9 million tons of metals, 2 million tons of transit and 2.9 million tons of support cargo. A total of 1.6 trillion rubles worth of cargo was transported, of which metals and ores accounted for 856 billion rubles. Thus, the target indicator of the federal project “Development of the Northern Sea Route” was exceeded, according to which it was necessary to reach 32 million tons of cargo traffic by 2021. At the same time, positive dynamics remain: according to preliminary estimates, the volume of cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route in the first half of 2022 may grow by 5–7% compared to the first half of 2021. By 2024, it is planned to create an infrastructure to increase cargo traffic to 80 million tons and increasing the total capacity of ports along the Northern Sea Route to 83 million tons in 2024 8.

According to Evgeniy Ambrosov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Director for Marine Operations, Shipping and Logistics of PJSC NOVATEK, 6 icebreakers are needed to ensure year-round navigation in the Arctic, including 3 icebreakers in the Kara Sea (2 icebreakers assure bilateral vessel passage through the Sea Canal Gulf of Ob and 1 icebreaker builds and maintains channels in fast ice in the area between the Matissen and Vilkitskiy straits, escorts supply vessels) and 3 nuclear-powered icebreakers for escort in the eastern sector of the Arctic to maintain the commercial speed of gas carriers.

The work on the development of the international transport corridor Europe-Arctic-Asia, which will connect Belarus, Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg and Murmansk with Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, was continued. The Northern Sea Route acts as a link between European and Asian states [3, Vardomskiy L.B.], being the Arctic vector for the countries of Greater Eurasia. The transport strategy of the Russian Federation until 2030 provides for the integrated development of maritime, inland waterway and rail transport in the Arctic zone of Russia, as well as the modernization of the ports of Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Indiga, Dik-son, Pevek, Sabetta, Dudinka and Tiksi.

The International Seminar on Shipbuilding and Ship Repair in the Arctic focused on meeting the targets set by the President of the Russian Federation of transporting at least 80 million tons of cargo along the Northern Sea Route by 2024 and 150 million tons by 2030. Gadzhimagomed Huseynov, First Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, drew attention to this during the session: “Such volumes require large investments and the construction of a fleet. Today, we feel a shortage of ship repair capacities, especially in the Arctic and the Far East, we have to solve a number of fundamental tasks”. According to him, preferential regimes operate in the region. In particular, benefits for insurance premiums are available for companies: residents of the Arctic zone pay 7.5% instead of 30%. In addition, there are income tax preferences and the possibility of applying the free customs zone procedure, which provides for 0% VAT on goods placed under the FCZ procedure. However, according to the first Ministry for the Development of the Far East, in addition to the existing benefits for ship repair enterprises, it is necessary to provide for 0% VAT 9.

After this proposal, at the seminar, the possibility of reducing repair costs at Russian shipyards and possible changes in the preferential treatment of the ship owners were discussed. Aleksey Rakhmanov, Chairman of the Board, General Director, United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC, noted that “Zero VAT will immediately give 20% benefits compared to the same Norwegian shipyards. This is the first. Secondly, we need to work with the structure so that the huge overhead costs that a dual-use shipyard incurs are somehow bracketed.” He also said that the Russian flag must be made comfortable for the development of ship repair. “Only 10% of the entire national wealth of the Russian Federation is exported on ships flying the Russian flag. Accordingly, those, including Russian ship owners, who sail under a foreign flag, will naturally be repaired abroad. Until we make the Russian flag convenient for navigation, nothing really will happen with ship repair,” Alexey Rakhmanov concluded 10.

In his speech, the Governor of the Arkhangelsk Oblast Alexander Tsybulskiy noted that about half of foreign ports are closed for the repair of Russian ships today, while Indonesia and Turkey have significantly increased the cost of work in this area. “Our prices are not only becoming competitive, but we can already do it cheaper.” It should be noted that the ship repair plants of the Arkhangelsk transport hub are indeed capable of performing all types of ship repair: factory repair with docking, docking with related work, modernization of ships, inter-cruise repair and maintenance, a full range of works for presenting ships to classification societies, all types of repair of power plants, deck and auxiliary equipment.

The International Workshop on Shipbuilding and Ship Repair was also attended by Deputy Chairman of the Board of PJSC NOVATEK, Chairman of the Arctic Economic Council Evgeniy Am-brosov, Director of the Department of Shipbuilding Industry and Marine Engineering of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Boris Kabakov, Deputy Governor of the Murmansk Oblast Olga Kuznetsova , as well as Deputy General Director, Director of the Directorate of the Northern Sea Route of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Vyacheslav Ruksha and General Director, Chairman of the Board of PAO Sovcomflot Igor Tonkovidov.

The event confirmed the focus of Russia’s activities on a responsible approach to the ecology of the Arctic. One of the brightest examples is the Sulfur Project launched by Norilsk Nickel. Thus, thanks to the project, emissions of pollutants in Norilsk will decrease by 45% in 2023 and by 85% in 2025. At the same time, the effects of the project on the country’s GDP will amount to 575 billion rubles, on tax revenues of the budget — 118 billion rubles. Total in 2018–2025, more than 300 billion rubles will be invested in the implementation of the project in Norilsk 11.

The session dedicated to the activities of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the region was interesting. There are over 500 potentially hazardous industrial and infrastructural facilities in the Arctic zone, which can become sources of man-made emergencies, of which, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, occur on average more than 100 per year. Development of anthropogenic activities in the Arctic zone necessitates an increase in the appropriate level of protection of the Arctic territories from emergencies.

First Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief Alexander Chupriyan opened a strategic session organized by the Russian Emergencies Ministry “Arctic Regions: Dialogue on Integrated Security” within the framework of SPIEF-2022, where regional experience of sustainable functioning of the Arctic regions against the background of possible and most typical emergencies in the Russian Arctic was shared, and effective interaction mechanisms were developed between the Russian Emergencies Ministry and the subjects of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. It was emphasized that the department has been developing an integrated security system in this region since 2014. He noted that during this period, six Arctic integrated emergency and rescue centers have been created. By 2025, it is planned to deploy four more rescue centers and seven aviation rescue units. Interaction with regional authorities, the Maritime Rescue Service, Rosatom and other stakeholders in the Arctic has been organized 12. About 35.000 specialists work as part of the subdi- visions of the Russian Emergencies Ministry in the Arctic regions of Russia. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations regularly conducts exercises of the forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Arctic to improve the efficiency of their work. During the exercises held in 2021, the Ministry of Emergency Situations carried out research on 91 scientific tasks specific to the department, tested 41 samples of equipment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Arctic conditions (aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, communications equipment, special equipment, etc.). It was noted that in future, developers of fire and rescue equipment will be invited to the most significant trainings so that they can demonstrate new developments in action. Moreover, it is proposed to introduce the practice of comparative tests during the exercises, when several samples of machinery, equipment or outfit of one function, but different manufacturing enterprises, demonstrate their potential. The First Deputy Minister noted that the next exercises in the Arctic will be held in 2023 and will cover all the Arctic regions of Russia. The headquarters of the exercises will be located in the village Sabetta, near the port of the same name — one of the key ports in the transport system of the YaNAO and Western Siberia — and the plant for the production of liquefied natural gas “Yamal LNG”. He briefly outlined the immediate prospects for organizing emergency rescue activities of the Russian Emergencies Ministry in the Arctic. Thus, an experimental test of the operation of System 112 in the Arctic will be carried out. By 2027, the Arctic aviation group of the Ministry of Emergency Situations will be significantly increased, primarily its helicopter component. The aviation of the Ministry of Emergency Situations will include 13 helicopters, including 9 ones in the Arctic version. The construction of the Arctic centers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia will continue, one of them will be located on Dixon Island 13.

The participants of the Forum were interested and concerned about the construction of the future international Arctic station “Snezhinka”. Its creation was initiated by Russia as the chairman of the Arctic Council. The construction and implementation of projects at the station are provided for by the Strategy for the Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and Ensuring National Security in the period up to 2035. An ambitious project implemented by the team of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology is planned to be launched on the Yamal Peninsula, in the center of gas production for in Russia. “Snezhinka”will be built near a large lake in the Jade Valley between the Rai-Iz and Dinosaur mountain ranges. The project was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Ministry for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and the Governor of the YaNAO. The station will be a fully autonomous complex operating on the basis of renewable energy sources and hydrogen energy. Scientists will be able to conduct research here in a whole range of areas, including hydrogen energy, thermal stabilization of permafrost, carbon footprint reduc- tion technologies, Arctic medicine, telecommunications in high latitudes, aero and hydroponics, robotic platforms with artificial intelligence. The research program announced during the development of the project was supported by the Russian Academy of Sciences. By the end of 2022, design and estimate documentation for the creation of the station is to be developed, and a positive conclusion of the state expert examination is to be obtained. Construction is planned to start next year. Test operation of the project is scheduled to start in 2024. The concern is that the project for the construction of the scientific station “Snezhinka” has risen in price by 2.5 times, now it is estimated at 5.6 billion rubles 14. The price of construction has changed due to the expansion of the area and the increase in the cost of building materials and equipment, but it can be reduced during the development of the project. The project is currently financed from the federal budget; in the future, large corporations are not excluded from joining the project 15. It is important to take into account the statement of the Chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Arctic Council Nikolay Korchunov, who noted that, despite the fact that the member countries of the Arctic Council have suspended their participation in it, the work planned by the Russian side will continue, and the project will be implemented 16. He also noted that the Arctic station of the same name will also be built in the Murmansk Oblast near the village of Teriberka 17.

One of the main sessions was the Conference on the Development of Telecommunications and Digitalization in the Arctic. Its participants discussed the introduction of digital technologies in the Arctic, as well as the provision of high-quality communications and high-speed Internet in the region.

The Forum participants were interested in the problem of training and retention of personnel in the Arctic [4, Terentyeva M.A.]. Positive experience has been accumulated in the Murmansk Oblast. In 2019, the region approved the strategic plan “Live in the North!”. Over 3 years, thanks to regional payments and the Zemskiy Doctor program, more than 270 doctors have been involved, and a minimum wage has been set for young teachers. Special attention is paid to the development of medium and small businesses, the programs “Arctic Hectare”, “Governor’s Startup” are being implemented. In 2021, the migration loss decreased by 1.8 times compared to 2020. According to Governor Andrey Chibis, the creation of the first and only territory of advanced socio-economic development “Capital of the Arctic” in the region made it possible to create good economic dynamics in three years. Thus, the growth of investments amounted to 30% (600 billion rubles). Not a single project, large enterprise or construction site has stopped its work. All this gave an increase in industrial production by 17%, the economy — by 16%, wages — by 29% (real income — 13%). The migration loss decreased by 1.8 times compared to 2020; in 2021, 9.5% less people left 18.

Head of the Arkhangelsk Oblast Alexander Tsybulskiy made a number of topical proposals at SPIEF. He drew attention to strengthening the system of integrated training of engineering personnel for the Arctic. The governor recalled that the region is the scientific and educational center of the Russian North, where the only Arctic federal university and the largest medical university in the North-West are located, training personnel for the entire western part of the Russian Arctic. In the region, about 17.000 students are enrolled in higher education programs, 27.500 young people are enrolled in secondary vocational education programs. In addition, Arkhangelsk is the home of the world-class scientific and educational center “Russian Arctic: New Materials, Technologies and Research Methods”, created jointly by the three Arctic regions. One of the REC’s tasks is to improve the system of training professional personnel, focused on rapid adaptation to the requirements of the scientific and technological development of Russia and the country’s needs in the Russian Arctic. Another unique competence of the Arkhangelsk Oblast is the “factory-technical college” training system. This model is based on a system of continuous engineering education, which has a multilevel character: from vocational guidance work at school to the preparation of a certified integrated master. The most important aspect is the interest of potential employers. The system is being implemented in the Arkhangelsk Oblast with the participation of enterprises of the military-industrial complex. Interaction between the Institute of Shipbuilding and Marine Arctic Technology of NArFU and the enterprises Sevmash, Zvezdochka and Arktika has been established. Students acquire the skills of working and engineering and technical activities while still studying, in the process of engineering and production practice. Creation of the only interuniversity campus in the western part of the Russian Arctic in Arkhangelsk has been started. It will include multifunctional educational and laboratory buildings, sports infrastructure facilities, cultural and leisure spaces. The total area of the campus will be more than 125 thousand square meters. Its structure takes into account a large residential complex, about 72 thousand square meters for student dormitories 19.

The speech of Irina Yarovaya, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, was listened to with interest and support. She noted that wages in the Arctic should be higher and suggested that the northern allowance and coefficient should be paid not through accumulated work experience, but from the first day of work.

Elvira Nurgalieva, First Deputy Director General for Social Development of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, shared her experience of implementing a large personnel project supported by the Ministry of Defense, the Arctic Appeal: “We are working with young people who are now finishing their military service; many of them have secondary specialized education but no experience yet. We offer them the opportunity to work in the Arctic, a specific life trajectory. Last year we launched a pilot project with Norilsk Nickel. 3.5 thousand young people, approaching their retirement, were offered to live and work in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. 40% of them confirmed their interest. Some of them are already employed. In 2022, we are expanding our geography: we will work with 25 thousand people who are completing military service, several dozen employers have joined this program” 20.

It should be noted that this practice was actively applied in the past years and had positive results. According to the head of the Political Directorate of the Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant-General Alexander Ivanovich Grienko, the internal troops sent about 30.000 servicemen to the Norilsk mining and processing plant named after A.P. Zavinyagin after completing compulsory military service. They formed a stable backbone of the enterprise’s workforce, became foremen, heads of workshops and shifts, were able to create families and eventually became real northerners who conquered the Arctic territories.

SPIEF successfully hosted the seminar “The Role of World-Class Scientific and Educational Centers in the Implementation of Arctic Projects”. It was stressed that any technology or material used in the Arctic must be science-intensive, innovative, because the extreme conditions, risks and challenges determine this. There is no margin for error, so reliability, economy, functionality are the main requirements for materials and devices in use. Rector of the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov Elena Kudryashova pointed out the need to reformat the activities of the REC. “We cannot afford to solve certain issues for a long time — we need to respond quickly to the tasks that modern reality sets for us. Being engaged only in import substitution, we will always only catch up in terms of technology, but we need to think about tomorrow. Therefore, we must change the REC development programs in a very mobile way in accordance with the requirements of the state, region, industry and those companies that work in the Arctic” 21. M.K. Yeseev, Head of Research and Educational Centre "Russian Arctic: new materials, technologies and research methods", Alexander Nikolaev, Rector of M. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Igor Manzhurov, Director for Development of the Urals Interregional Scientific and Educational Centre of World-class Advanced Manufacturing Technologies and Materials, Sergey La-

REVIEWS AND REPORTS

Valery P. Zhuravel. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum … dyzhenko, ANO “Corporation for the Development of the Yenisei Siberia”, REC “Yenisei Siberia”, and others participated in the discussion.

As part of the Day of the Arctic Investor, at the stand of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, the governors of the regions of the Russian Arctic personally presented investment projects to Russian entrepreneurs and the media [5, Dyadik N.V., Chapargina A.N.].

A special place on the agenda was given to the presentation of the tourism potential of the Arctic regions of Russia. The projects of their regions were presented by T.Yu. Khandy, Minister of Entrepreneurship, Trade and Tourism of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), A.V. Eliseev, Chairman of the Committee for Tourism of the Murmansk Oblast, A.B. Borchikova, head of the tourism department of the Republic of Karelia, A.Yu. Terentiev, head of the ANO “Agency for the Development of Tourism and the Promotion of the Republic of Komi”, A.V. Klepikovskaya, director of development of the Golubino cultural and landscape park, director of the Association for the Preservation and Development of Cultural and Natural Heritage “Voice of the North”, Alexey Zhirukhin, blogger, car traveler and Bogdan Bulychev, blogger, ambassador of the Arctic and the Far East.

All session participants noted that the trend of recent years is the intensive development of tourism [6, Timoshenko D.S.]. It was emphasized that, despite the overall increase in the number of tourists in the Russian Arctic, the Arctic regions remain at the bottom of the list among all regions of the Russian Federation in terms of the number of tourists. In addition, people who come to work in the Arctic on a rotational basis are counted as tourists; it distorts the real number of tourists in the region. The speakers, using the example of their regions, emphasized that the development of tourism is impossible without creating the necessary conditions for building a system of operational and successful communication, which includes all participants in the process of production, promotion, sale and consumption of the tourist product, as well as interested parties from related industries. Attention was paid to the training of specialists in the tourism sector. At the same time, it seems that there is no in-depth analysis of the tourism sector in the subjects of the Russian Arctic, which is in extremely difficult condition after the COVID-19 pandemic. Under these conditions, it is necessary to analyze the tourist and recreational potential and its promotion on the Internet; development of tourism infrastructure; dynamics of tourist flows; economic factor in the development of domestic tourism; factors hindering the development of tourism. It is positive that the speakers have an understanding that the emphasis should be shifted towards domestic tourism.

As part of the business program, in the presence of the governors of the regions of the Russian Arctic and the heads of the largest companies implementing investment projects in the Arctic, the Arctic Challenge project was launched. The event was attended by Alexey Chekunkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, Nikolay Zapryagaev, General Director of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, Dmitriy Peskov, the Special Representative of the President of Russia for Digital and Technological Development and Director of the Young Professionals Department of the ASI, Governor of the

Murmansk Oblast Andrey Chibis, Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Alexander Uss, Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region Alexander Tsybulsky, Head of the Komi Republic Vladimir Uyba, Senior Vice President, Head of Strategy and Strategic Project Management, Logistics and Resources at PJSC MMC “Norilsk Nickel” Sergey Dubovitskiy, Special Representative of the Rosatom State Corporation for the Development of the Arctic Vladimir Panov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC NOVATEK Eduard Gudkov, General Director of Vasta Discovery LLC Sergey Bachin and others. The project is aimed at attracting managers from all regions of the Russian Federation for key positions in the governments of the Arctic regions and in the leading enterprises of the Arctic zone and thus the creation of social elevators for the inhabitants of Russia. The project is being implemented by the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation together with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives with the support of the Russian Ministry for the Development of the Far East 22. The objective of the project is to search and select qualified personnel for further employment in the system of state and municipal government and in key regional industries, as well as the creation of social elevators for the purpose of growth and self-realization of citizens. Together with the regions, a list of 200 vacant managerial positions of the subjects of the Russian Arctic was compiled. The project involves the selection of candidates in absentia, a series of public events, stages of group and individual evaluation. During the project implementation, it is planned to attract and evaluate more than 10.000 candidates. The first job offers will be received by candidates at the Eastern Economic Forum 2022, which will be held in September in Vladivostok.

The topic “International Cooperation as a Guarantee of Sustainable Development of the Arctic” was considered within the framework of the “Think Arctic” project. The speakers emphasized the harm of the sanctions policy of the West in terms of the development and exploration of the Arctic [7, Zhuravel V.P.], and drew attention to the growth of confrontation between the leading Arctic states [8, Raikov Yu.A.].

Leading experts confirmed that Russia, as the largest Arctic state, will continue to implement investment projects that have already begun, which, among other things, will contribute to an increase in cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route. Against the backdrop of EU sanctions that limit the entry of Russian ships into European ports, the international transport corridor can become a serious alternative to other routes. This is a kind of “road of life” for supplying vast territories of the Far North through northern delivery, as well as a critical route for Russian foreign trade with the countries of the Pacific region, with China and India. The significance of the Northern Sea Route is also growing for the development of its own territories as the world’s largest special economic zone.

Conclusion

Over a quarter of a century, the Forum has become a sought-after global platform for establishing cooperative ties, an authoritative and representative world-class event. This year, it was much more modest than in previous years. The event took place against the backdrop of a special operation in Ukraine, large-scale sanctions and the withdrawal of a huge number of foreign companies from Russia.

The sessions that took place made a significant contribution to a comprehensive understanding of the real situation in the Arctic, made it possible to develop steps and effective solutions to fulfill the tasks set by the Russian leadership to ensure a balanced sustainable development of the Arctic region and improve the well-being of its inhabitants, including the indigenous peoples of the North. The leadership of the country and the heads of the subjects of the Russian Arctic have an understanding that this region is an important and promising territory of Russia. In this regard, systematic work is needed to form an Arctic consciousness and involvement of Russian citizens in great Arctic affairs. In the foreseeable future, according to experts, economic projects will be the main focus. Under these conditions, it is important to actively involve our closest EAEU allies in the problems of the Arctic. As a result of the forum, 691 agreements worth 5.639 trillion rubles were signed (only agreements, the amount of which is not a commercial secret, are taken into account) 23.

The Forum was organized by the Roscongress Foundation, a socially oriented non-financial development institution, the largest organizer of all-Russian, international, congress, exhibition, business, social, youth, sports and cultural events. It was created in accordance with the decision of the President of the Russian Federation in 2007 with the aim of promoting the development of economic potential, promoting national interests and strengthening the image of Russia.