Murmansk hosts International workshop and conference “Prevention and respond to emergency situations in the Arctic“
International workshop and conference “Prevention and respond to emergency situations in the Arctic“ opened in Murmansk on 18 July 2018, says press center of Murmansk Region Government.
The agenda of the two-day event includes the reports of scientists and experts about prevention and respond to emergencies in the Arctic, demonstration of state-of-the-art rescue equipment and equipment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, demonstration of exercise on recovery works after a fire and explosion onboard a ship causing a spill of marine fuel into the water area of the Kola Bay.
When addressing the Forum participants in the name of Murmansk Region Governor Marina Kovtun, First Deputy Governor Aleksey Tykavin said that the Arctic zone holds a special place in the system of Russia’s strategic interests in the sphere of economy, transport, environment, innovations, defence and geopolitics. With its unique geographic location, the Murmansk Region has obtained a status of a strategic area serving geopolitical and economic interests of Russia in the Arctic.
The conference gathered participants from Moscow, North-West of Russia, Chukotka, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Chelyabinsk Region, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, USA and S. Korea.
The Murmansk Region has a special strategic status for Russia. Geographical location defined the Kola Peninsula as a priority element in ensuring the geopolitical interests of Russia in the north of Europe and the Arctic. Its non-freezing deep-water the Kola Bay became the main base of the Northern Fleet, and Murmansk sea port became the center of industrial fishing in the Barents Sea and the North Atlantic, and the starting point of the Arctic.
Today, Murmansk is the only port in European Russia with an open access to major oceanic routes. Port of Murmansk has direct access to the Northern Sea Route, that links the Atlantic to the Pacific through the arctic waters and provides access to natural resources of the Far North, Siberia and the Far East.
The Murmansk Region located at the junction of transnational routes and having reliable sea, railway, road and air links with industrial Russian regions can surely be called a northern gateway of Russia.
