03/2021

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EASTERN ECONOMIC FORUM EVENTS
12 March 2021, TASS

6th Eastern Economic Forum is set to take place on 2–4 September 2021 on the campusof the Eastern Economic Forum
The Forum will be held to the highest standards and will comply with Rospotrebnadzor and WHO
recommendations on compulsory measures that aim to prevent the spread of coronavirus
tass.ru/ekonomika/10889891

INTERNATIONAL ARCTIC FORUM EVENTS
22 March 2021, TASS

Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council is scheduled for 19–20 May
Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for International Cooperation in the Arctic,
senior official in the Arctic Council Nikolay Korchunov spoke at the online briefing in Rossiya Segodnya following
the Senior Arctic Officials’ meeting that took place online on 16–18 March 2021.
According to Mr. Korchunov, the Senior Arctic Officials’ meeting focus on preparation of the Ministerial
meeting of the Arctic Council scheduled for 19–20 May 2021.
The Arctic Council was established in 1996 in accordance with the Ottawa Declaration. It is a high-levelintergovernmental forum that ensures cooperation in the region, especially environmental efforts. Members of theCouncil are Denmark (including Greenland and Faroe Islands), Iceland, Canada, Norway, Russia, the USA,Finland, and Sweden.
tass.ru/politika/10960549

STATE POLICY IN THE FAR EAST AND THE ARCTIC
26 March 2021, TASS

Three Russian nuclear submarines simultaneously broke the ice in the Arctic for thefirst time
For the first time in the history of the Russian Navy, three nuclear submarines simultaneously surfaced inthe Arctic within a 300-metre radius and broke 5-foot-thick ice. It occurred during the integrated Arctic expeditionUmka-2021 that started on 20 March. Admiral Nikolay Evmenov, Commander of the Russian Navy, reported on thestatus of the expedition to President Putin.
tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/11006073

24 March 2021, Kommersant

Ministry for the Development of the Far East and Arctic selected banks for discounted
loans for Arctic zone
The list includes six authorized banks: VTB, Sber, Gazprombank, Sovkombank, Otkritie, and Moscow
Industrial Bank. They can potentially participate in the discounted loan programme for residents of the Russian
Arctic zone.
These banks will offer loans with a discounted interest rate in accordance with the rules approved by adecree of the Russian Government in December last year. Under this programme, the final rate will be lower thanthe market one by 1.5 times of the key interest rate set by the Bank of Russia (currently, 4,5% * 1,5 = 6,75%). It
can be as low as 2% p.a.

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Subsidies for residents of the Russian Arctic zone will be provided by the federal budget.
kommersant.ru/doc/4742577

15 March 2021, Delovoy Peterburg

Komi will provide first ‘Arctic hectares’ on 1 August
The draft federal law provides for free land plots of 1 hectare per family member for five years. After that,the land can be subject to either privatization or long-term rent.
This land can be used for constructing housing or for any type of economic activity.
dp.ru/a/2021/03/15/V_Komi_arkticheskie_gekta

12 March 2021, Rossiyskaya Gazeta

Ministry for the Development of the Far East and Arctic and Ministry of Tradecoordinate support measures for industry in the Far East
Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov and Yury Trutnev, Acting Deputy Prime Minister of the RussianFederation and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, held a meeting with headsof Far Eastern regions. During the meeting, the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry for the Development of the Far
East and Arctic were assigned with coordinating existing support measures for Far Eastern operational facilities.
“We need to come up with such a cooperation system to help the two federal ministries account for eachother’s work to support operations. It will make their joint efforts more efficient,” noted Yury Trutnev, Acting Deputy
Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District.
In his turn, Yury Borisov stated that despite the crisis caused by the pandemic, steps to restore industrial
production in the Far East and help it grow needed to be taken at present time. It also applies to actions to support
employment and preservation of jobs in industry.
According to Mr. Borisov, the Government plans to focus on the efficiency of the existing support measureswith approved financing, as well as potential non-financial tools, such as tariff and customs regulation, special
economic zones and territories of advanced development.
rg.ru/2021/03/12/reg-dfo/vedomstva-sinhroniziruiut-podderzhku-promyshlennosti-na-dalnemvostoke.html?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop

10 March 2021, TASS

Vladimir Putin assigned the Government with developing a unified Arctic development
plan within a month
Summing up his meeting with members of the Russian Government, President Putin emphasized that it
was a matter of utmost importance and called for it not to be overlooked in day-to-day work.
“As for the Arctic, I would like to ask you to complete preparation and approval of the unified Arctic
development plan. Moreover, I am asking you to do it within a month,” noted the President.
tass.ru/ekonomika/10873507

10 March 2021, TASS

Ministry for the Development of the Far East and Arctic proposes an ecotourism fund inFEFD
Minister for the Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunkov proposed to establish a fund fordeveloping ecotourism in the Far East through an environmental fee for coal loading in seaports.
This measure will ensure support for ecotourism of over RUB 2.5 billion annually. With over 100 mln tonnesof coal in seaports each year, it will also provide additional income to Far Eastern residents involved in tourism.
tass.ru/ekonomika/10874049

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ECONOMY OF THE FAR EAST AND THE ARCTIC
26 March 2021, RBC

Second hectare: Russians will get more land in the Far East
The Government has introduced a bill in the State Duma to grant a second Far Eastern hectare toprogramme participants who have successfully used the first. It is expected that the second hectare will be available
this August. Programme participants will need to submit an application on the НаДальнийВосток.рф website.
The Far Eastern Hectare programme was launched five years ago (in 2016) with the aim of attracting newresidents to the Russian Far East and helping to improve living conditions for indigenous people.
rbc.ru/opinions/economics/26/03/2021/605cf0ed9a794769933dd2d9?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=des
ktop&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fyandex.com%2Fnews%2Fsearch%3Ftext%3D

11 March 2021, TASS

Mikhail Mishustin ordered to resolve the issue with financing for the Children of the Arctic
programmeMr. Mishustin has instructed the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Education, the Ministryof Labour and the Ministry of Finance to work out the sources of funding for the Children of the Arctic programmeby 30 May, as well as the possibility of including it in the state programme for the socioeconomic development ofRussia's Arctic zone.
The Children of the Arctic programme is designed to support new forms of education that take into accountthe climatic and cultural features of life of the indigenous minorities of the North, to improve the health of children,and to develop and publish textbooks.
tass.ru/ekonomika/10879219

1 March 2021, TASS

Each FEFD region will get coordination centre for the Far East development programme
Each region of the Far Eastern Federal District will get a designated centre for coordinating measures under
the Far East development programme. It was announced by Grigory Smolyak, Director of Human Capital andTerritorial Development Department of the Russian Ministry for the Development of the Far East and Arctic.
He recalled that the national programme combines national projects and sectoral state programmes for thedevelopment of the Far Eastern regions. “In fact, the decisions, plans, and measures that will be implemented in
the District in the near future have all been collected in one place. What needs to be achieved by 2024 in the macroregion is to exceed the national average growth rates of the quality of life and to improve economic indicators, inparticular, to create at least 200 facilities in the advanced development territories and in the Free Port ofVladivostok," said Mr. Smolyak, noting that by 2035, the outflow of population from the Far East must be stopped.
tass.ru/obschestvo/10803443

NEW MECHANISMS FOR THE FAR EAST
DEVELOPMENT: SUCCESS STORIES
30 March 2021, Gazeta.ru

New approaches to promoting the Arctic agenda
Between May 2021 and 2023, Russia will chair the Arctic Council. Over this time, many regions of thecountry will host over 80 events that will address the most relevant topics for the Arctic development. They can also
become an important platform for promoting projects and initiatives proposed by the expert community.
As part of the preparation for Russian Chairmanship in the Arctic Council, Advisor to the President of theRussian Federation Anton Kobyakov met with voyager Fyodor Konyukhov. They discussed the strategic location4

of the Arctic and activity to preserve its unique environment.
According to Mr. Kobyakov, “Opportunities the Arctic offers require an educated and careful approach topreserving this unique and vulnerable ecosystem for future generations.”
In his turn, Fyodor Konyukhov, whose scientific discoveries are now used in developing instruments
adapted for the Arctic’s extreme conditions, noted: “Expeditions and research that we organize will facilitate Arctic
countries and indigenous peoples to unite behind Russia in pursuing sustainable development and environmentalprotection of the region.”gazeta.ru/ 13540076

23 March 2021, the Arctic

The Arktika-M satellite reached its target orbit
The first Arktika-M satellite, designed to monitor Russia's northern territories and the Arctic Ocean seasaround the clock, has been successfully launched into its target orbit, Roscosmos's website reports.
ru.arctic.ru/geographics/20210323/991998.html

22 March 2021, VEB.RF

VEB.RF will invest in developing transport and logistics infrastructure in the Far EastVEB.RF has proposed to comprehensively modernize public transport systems in Khabarovsk Territory andAmur Region, involving not only fleet renewal but also a new ideology for managing the transport system. Asexperience in other regions has shown, the reform takes the quality, comfort and safety of public transport to awhole new level.
Projects involving the development of transport hubs are in high demand in the Far East. Renovating theairport complexes in Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk will make the cities the largest regional hubs in the Far
East, create conditions for expanding the route network in the Far Eastern Federal District, increase passenger
traffic, including attracting foreign tourists, and most importantly, improve the quality of passenger service.
VEB.RF/press-tsentr/48034

16 March 2021, TASSExperts will develop an online translator for indigenous peoples
Specialists have begun to develop a model for an electronic glossary for the languages of 19 indigenouspeoples, including those living in the Arctic zone of Russia.
tass.ru/obschestvo/10909651

18 March 2021, Interfax

Yury Trutnev inspected construction of a railway bridge from the Jewish AutonomousRegion to China
The Nizhneleninskoye–Tongjiang railway bridge will be part of a new export route and an incentive for thecreation of new logistics and industrial clusters, and will improve transport accessibility for several Far Easternregions at once. It is planned that at the first stage, the freight turnover through the bridge will reach 5.2 million
tonnes a year, and then, after the reconstruction of the Birobidzhan–Leninsk railway section, the turnover will
increase to 20 million tonnes a year.
“The Government of the Russian Federation instructed us to create a border control point for all types ofcargo. We’ll see to it,” noted Yury Trutnev, Acting Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Presidential
Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District.
interfax-russia.ru/far-east/news/zheleznodorozhnyy-most-iz-evreyskoy-ao-v-kitay-planiruetsya-vvesti-vekspluataciyu-v-avguste-trutnev?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop

510 March 2021, Komsomolskaya Pravda

Emigrants from Brazil opened a cheese factory in the Far East
The design capacity of the factory is about 600 litres of milk a day, which will allow the production of up
to 60 kg of cheese a day. The new enterprise will not only supply quality products to the shelves of chain
supermarkets, but will also become a striking tourist project.
Agripina Anufriev-Egoroff, a participant in the state programme to assist the voluntary resettlement ofcompatriots living abroad in the Russian Federation, first presented her product back at the Eastern Economic
Forum in Vladivostok, in the Far Eastern Hectare programme participant fair zone.
kp.ru/online/news/4215767
The Roscongress Foundation is a socially oriented non-financial development institution and a major organizer ofinternational conventions; exhibitions; and business, public, sporting, and cultural events. It was established in pursuance of adecision by the President of the Russian Federation.
The Foundation was established in 2007 with the aim of facilitating the development of Russia’s economic potential,
promoting its national interests, and strengthening the country’s image. One of the roles of the Foundation is to comprehensivelyevaluate, analyse, and cover issues on the Russian and global economic agendas. It also offers administrative services,
provides promotional support for business projects and attracting investment, and helps foster social entrepreneurship andcharitable initiatives.
Each year, the Foundation’s events draw participants from 208 countries and territories, with more than 15,000 media
representatives working on-site at Roscongress’ various venues. The Foundation benefits from analytical and professional
expertise provided by 5000 people working in Russia and abroad. In addition, it works in close cooperation with 133 economic
partners; industrialists’ and entrepreneurs’ unions; and financial, trade, and business associations from 70 countries worldwide.
roscongress.org
ORGANIZER OF THE EASTERN ECONOMIC FORUM AND THE INTERNATIONAL ARCTIC FORUM6