Talking Barents: Prospects and Formats for Cooperation. Key Quotes

Background material for the event «Russian-Chinese Cooperation in the Field of Sustainable Development of the Arctic Region».

In this report the investment company InfraONE aggregates publicly available statistics on the quantity and quality of transportation, energy, social, housing and utilities, and telecommunications infrastructure and converts these data into an integrated index which reflects the state of these facilities and the level of their development in various regions of Russia.

The InfraOne Research study assesses the state of infrastructure related to environmental activities, as well as government policy and investment plans for the development of this area in Russia.

For some the northern sea route simply means a line on the map. For others it is reminiscent of the romantic expeditions of Semyon Dezhnev, Alexander Kolchak or Otto Schmidt. Some will recall the two captains, a movie about the search for a lost arctic expedition, the favourite of a distant childhood. It is also a grandiose global-scale project: building of a short-cut that will not only connect the European part of Russia to the far east but will also become the transportation artery for the entire world. Is it possible that ships will run the northern seas like commuter trains? When will the project, which dreamers can only compare to the first manned space mission, begin? We answer these and other questions together with Vyacheslav Ruksha , deputy director general of ROSATOM state atomic energy corporation and director for the northern sea route directorate.