Russian expansion in the Far North has entered a new stage. On the Kola Peninsula, in Murmansk, the TOP was created - the territory of accelerated development. The government decree was signed by a reputed statesman and. about. Premiere Andrey Belousov. The name of the new growth point on the map of Russia is not without a claim - "the capital of the Arctic." The geopolitical aftertaste is obvious. Somewhere in Oslo, across the border, they probably flinched. Yes, and in Copenhagen too. And so on until Ottawa itself. The reason is really serious.

The Murmansk ASEZ became the first and only territory in the Russian Arctic with a similar status. Other such are not planned. Making it clear the significance of this step, the authorities even renamed the whole ministry. The Ministry of Eastern Development has received an Arctic “expansion”. Until now, the TORs were created in the Far East, which for a long time remained in a state of neglect without the attention of the federal center. Now there are 20 of them. So the logic is iron: the territories remote from Moscow with a harsh climate should have a single owner.

For those who understand, a simple list of projects already included in the Murmansk TOR - anchor, as they are called, residents - sounds like heavenly music. This is the construction of the NOVATEK-Murmansk center for large-capacity offshore facilities, a coal terminal within the framework of the Lavna Commercial Sea Port, the fertilizer terminal and Tuloma apatite concentrate, as well as an international business and cultural center. The total investment in these four projects will be 127 billion rubles.

In the future, a strong appendage is also expected in the form of the “Port of Liinahamari” project near the Norwegian border, which should become a reference point for the Northern Sea Route. Needless to say, what does this mean for residents of the region? Any responsible leader and businessman dreams of settling on the sidelines of this great transit road of the future through which the flow of Chinese goods to Europe will flow. Literally golden rain will pour on the locals. The polar nights will be lit by bright lights ...

Until 2035, only from these projects about 42 billion rubles will go to the regional budget, the local governor Andrei Chibis rubs his hands. Residents will invest in the Murmansk region part of the money that they could save, he explained. And this is a new quality of life: schools, hospitals, roads, parks and sports facilities for northerners. This refers to the savings associated with the benefits that are given by any ASEV law. For this reason, they are breaking ahead. Experience borrowed from our strategic ally - China.

All this will be a powerful help in the implementation of the program recently adopted by the local authorities with the encouraging title “To live in the North. 2030. " The strategic plan for the development of the region for ten years was designed to fulfill the main task - to stop the decline in population in the region. Indeed, at the peak of development - in 1991 - almost half a million people lived in Murmansk, and now half as many.

With such projects, there is a chance to achieve the goal ahead of schedule. Not only to reverse the trend, but also to attract new people to the region, as they knew how to do in the USSR.

With the development of the Kola Peninsula, Arctic tourism can become a separate interesting direction. The coronavirus epidemic and its consequences unwittingly contribute to this. In a situation where long-haul flights to hot countries are difficult, trips to exotic regions of one's own country will become more and more popular. Incidentally, President Vladimir Putin recently spoke about this. And officials heard him. Both the local governor and the profile deputy minister Alexander Krutikov talk about the prospect of receiving cruise ships.

The latter reasonably attended to the removal of legislative obstacles for this. After all, the Kola Peninsula is a protected area, and the Barents Sea is an area where our Northern Fleet is actively operating. Well, in the modern world, one needs to be able to combine yesterday badly combined: the defense capability of the Motherland, its economic development and a decent standard of living for everyone. Tourism development is one way. And then we will not be ashamed, as recently, for the impressions published by a blogger from the UAE: they say Murmansk is the most depressed city in the world.

Murmansk is now the capital of the Arctic! Clear? Life is getting better. In the region there will be more money, power, motions. And that’s great. And, of course, all this new life will have to be protected. The strong and rich are not always loved, especially Russians. Not without reason the other day in the Barents Sea four British and American warships pinned (sorry, but there is no other word). Fully armed, with dozens of cruise missiles on board. The message is clear. Indicate presence. Well, our fleet likes such training.

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Aggravation was expected. The Arctic powers and their allies are afraid of Russia's active actions in the region. The first to realize the benefits of global warming, Moscow quite successfully began to strengthen its position, build infrastructure, arm itself. And now, at the northeastern tip of the Barents Sea, the world's northernmost military base, the Arctic Shamrock, is functioning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asks a number of questions to its Norwegian counterpart about Svalbard. And here also Russia undertook to develop the coastline. Torah builds. You are worried.

Indeed, this is about the next, third in a row over the last century, Russia's approval on the coast of the Barents Sea, and, therefore, in the entire North Atlantic. This was the first time a year before the revolution, when Tsar Nicholas II decided to establish a new port city on the Kola coast. Then, already in the Soviet period, Romanov-on-Murman, becoming simply Murmansk, played a key role during the war - he took naval convoys with valuable cargo for the army. And now a new approach: TOP, the Northern Sea Route ... It needs to be done.

The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.