Beyond statistics: a qualitative study of primary sector transformation in the post-soviet Russian arctic

The Russian Arctic is at the epicentre of economic, environmental, and social changes. At the same time, the peripheral character of the territory, its strong orientation on primary sector makes the region extremely volatile to suchlike shifts. The study concerns primary sector transformation in the Post-Soviet period when after 1991 significant changes in the economy were observed. The main aim of the paper is to identify the specifics, features and development prospects of the recent primary sector transformation in the Russian Arctic. The statistical methods do not reflect the full picture of the transformation. Firstly, Russia has switched to UN national accounts system only in 1994. Secondly, the Arctic statistics after 2009 for regional level is unavailable. That is why the main method of the research is the expert survey method. The results of the study demonstrate the dominant role of the primary sector and the strong dependence of Russian Arctic regions on these activities. The study identifies the key factors and drivers of the transformation, a specific position of the oil and gas sector and the role of natural resources to be traditionally used in the primary sector. Despite the positive role of economic diversification in the long-term economic development, the corresponding effect for the Arctic regions is not fully expressed. The methodological novelty of the research is an unconventional research method of investigating primary sector transformation on the regional level in the Post-Soviet Russian Arctic, i.e. the expert survey. The method can be applied to other countries and industries.