Siberia
Reindeer capacity of pastures will be calculated in Yamal
(Sever-Press via Yamal.org, 6 March 2013) -- This year the Department of Agro-industrial Complex, Trade and Provision of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug plans to undertake scientific and research work "Elaboration of the methodology for calculation of reindeer capacity of pastures on the territory of the region". The director of the department, Vyacheslav Kucherenko, explained the project to the conference of Yamal Union of Reindeer Herders, and said the methodology is intended to yield information for substantiating and taking administrative decisions on planning economic and nature-protecting activities and also use for practical aims by economic subjects. By his words, intensive industrial development of Yamal brings to decrease in territories of pastures. At the same time, number of domestic reindeer in the territory of Yamalskiy and Tazovskiy districts stays on the high level, which brings to more intensive use of reindeer pastures. Thus, it is necessary to elaborate the methodology and to calculate reindeer capacity of pastures on the territory of the region.
Posted 11 March 2013; 4:27:10 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Conservation and wildlife, Economic issues, Indigenous Issues, March13, Research, Russia, Siberia
Boy discovers well-preserved mammoth
(IOL SciTech, 5 October 2012) -- Moscow - A boy living in Russia's remote north has found the well-preserved remains of a 30,000-year-old adult mammoth, according to media reports on Thursday. The discovery was made near a weather station in the eastern Taimyr region, some 3,000 kilometres north-east of Moscow. News reports identified the boy as Yevgeny Salinder, son of a couple working at the Sopkarga polar weather station. Salinder reportedly discovered the animal during a walk. News reports said the remains were that of a male mammoth aged 15 or 16 years, and that its skin, meat, fat hump and organs were extremely well-preserved. According to the Pravda.ru news website, the last time mammoth remains of such quality were discovered in Russia was in 1901. Scientists used axes, picks and a steam-blaster to melt the permafrost in an extraction operation lasting a week, the report said. The mammoth probably died in the summer because it lacked an undercoat and had a large reserve of fat, the report quoted Aleksei Tikhonov, deputy director of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as saying.
Posted 28 October 2012; 12:42:41 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar History, Circumpolar News, Expeditions, field trips, tours, Flora and Fauna, October12, Russia, Siberia
14 apartment buildings for the settlers from the Yamal under construction in Tyumen district
(IA Regnum News, 31 December 2011) -- As of 31 December 2011, more than 48.5 thousand residents of the Yamal, more than half of them senior citizens, have expressed their desire to travel outside the autonomous regions, according to the press service of the governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. The rehousing program has been funded in part by the federal targeted program "Housing" and by the regional target program "Cooperation." However, the funds are clearly insufficient. The numbers of people wanting to move from the Far North is much greater. Therefore, beginning in 2012 funds will be sent to the county annually. Currently, work is underway in the Tuymen district on 14 blocks of flats to house more than 2.5 thousand "yamaltsev," who have decided to leave the Far North.
Posted 31 December 2011; 1:17:06 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, December11, Infrastructure, transportation, Russia, Siberia
Khanty-Mansiysk adopts city 2020 development strategy
(IA Regnum, 31 December 2011) -- Duma of Khanty-Mansiysk approved "Strategy of socio-economic development of the Khanty-Mansiysk 2020." The strategy's 329 pages containing 9 main analytical chapters and 7 annexes, according to the press service of the Administration of Khanty-Mansiysk. Sections of the strategy include an assessment of the existing state of the city's economy, demographics, workforce, quality of life of the population of the Khanty-Mansiysk, financial and public sector, the market of consumer services, the city's infrastructure, manufacturing, state of the environment, public safety and give a forecast for each aspect. The strategy provides a comparative analysis of competitive advantages and disadvantages of the municipality in relation to other areas of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra, describes problems, and gives an assessment of existing capacity and competitiveness of the economy of the city. It also contains a section that provides an assessment of current measures of municipal authorities to improve the socio-economic status of the population of the city, as well as evaluation of the implementation on the territory of the federal, regional, municipal and industrial programs of social and economic development. The strategy contains a number of scenarios (options) for development: Inertia, Innovation, and Intermediate (moderately optimistic). The document also reflects the long-term priorities and goals for their implementation in the chosen scenario. The final section devoted to a detailed description of the mechanisms for implementing the strategy. The development strategy of the Khanty-Mansiysk is linked to a number of strategic policy documents of the regional and federal level: the concept of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation to 2020, the concept of socio-economic development of regions of the Russian Federation, as well as of socio-economic development of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region in 2020 and plan for development and distribution of productive forces Ugra for 2006-2015. and 2020. The main instruments for implementing the strategy at the municipal level will be operating in the program of socio-economic development of the Khanty-Mansiysk. Note the capital of Yugra in the city today there are 34 programs.
Posted 31 December 2011; 1:01:39 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, December11, Economic issues, Infrastructure, transportation, Russia, Siberia
Gazprom extends Arctic railway
(Barents Observer, 4 November 2011) -- The world's northernmost railway line will be taken further. The line, which was built by Gazprom as supply line to the huge Bovanenkovo gas field, will be taken further north to Kharasevey, regional Governor Dmitry Kobylkin confirms to journalists. Regional authorities and Gazprom have already agreed about formalities with the project, Oilru.com reports. As previously reported, the Bovanenkovo railway was officially opened early 2011. The 572-km-long connection ends up in the station of Obskaya, where it joins ends with the national Russian railway grid. The gas-rich Yamal Peninsula is top priority for Gazprom, which is now investing big sums in regional field development. The 4.9 trillion cubic meter Bovanenkovo field is due to come into production in 2012, after which several more regional fields are in line. Among them is the Kharasaveyskoye, another huge field, located not far north of the Bovanenkovo. Unlike other Russian railway lines, the Obskaya-Bovanenkovo line is owned by Gazprom. As previously reported, the Russian Railways have been invited to take over the line, but has shown little interest. In addition to railway and field development in Yamal, Gazprom is also investing in the laying of the Bovanenkovo-Ukhta gas pipeline.
Posted 11 November 2011; 11:20:53 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Infrastructure, transportation, November11, Oil and gas, mining, Russia, Siberia
Reindeer herder finds baby mammoth in Russia Arctic
(Alissa de Carbonnel/Reuters, 19 August 2011) - A reindeer herder in Russia's Arctic has stumbled on the pre-historic remains of a baby woolly mammoth poking out of the permafrost, local officials said on Friday. The herder said the carcass was as perfectly preserved as the 40,000-year-old mammoth calf Lyuba discovered in the same remote region four years ago, authorities said, adding that an expedition had set off hoping to confirm the "sensational" find. "If it is true what is said about how it is preserved, this will be another sensation of global significance," expedition leader Natalia Fyodorova said in a statement on the Arctic Yamalo-Nenetsk region's official website. Scientists planned to fly the mammoth's remains to the regional capital Salekhard, where it would be stored in a cooler to prevent the remains from decomposing. Giant woolly mammoths have been extinct since the Earth's last Ice Age 1.8 million to around 11,500 years ago. Scientists worldwide were stunned by the discovery of Lyuba, named after the wife of the hunter who discovered her. Arctic ice kept the extinct specimen so immaculately preserved that although her shaggy coat was gone, her skin and internal organs were intact.
Posted 26 August 2011; 1:09:02 PM. Permalink
Tagged: August11, Circumpolar History, Circumpolar News, Flora and Fauna, Russia, Siberia
33,000-year-old dog skull unearthed in Siberia
(Stone Pages ArchaeoNews, 4 August 2011) -- A very well-preserved 33,000 year old canine skull from a cave in the Siberian Altai mountains shows some of the earliest evidence of dog domestication ever found. But the specimen raises doubts about early man's loyalty to his new best friend as times got tough. The skull, from shortly before the peak of the last ice age, is unlike those of modern dogs or wolves. The archaeologists have detected that while its snout is similar in size to that of Greenland dogs found 1,000 years ago, it has teeth that would have resembled wild European wolves. This indicates a dog in the very early stages of domestication, says evolutionary biologist Dr Susan Crockford, one of the authors on the study. "The wolves were not deliberately domesticated, the process of making a wolf into a dog was a natural process," explained Dr Crockford of Pacific Identifications, Canada. But for this to happen required settled early human populations: "At this time, people were hunting animals in large numbers and leaving large piles of bones behind, and that was attracting the wolves," she said. The most curious, least fearful wolves tended to have more juvenile characteristics with shorter, wider snouts and smaller, more crowded teeth, features that, over generations, came to define the domesticated dog. These early dogs would have been useful to people in cleaning up scraps and fending off other predators, but over the last 10,000 years, they became key members of the team, believes Oxford University archaeologist Professor Thomas Higham, a co-author on the study. "Hunters with dogs are much better than sole hunters," he said. Intriguingly though, this much older early Siberian dog seems to have hit an evolutionary dead end. While people continued to occupy the Altai through the depths of the last ice age, they seem to have done so without their dogs, perhaps as food became more scarce. "What the ice age did was to cause people to move around more," said Dr Crockford, halting the process of domestication and setting wolves and people back into competition for perhaps 20,000 years. It also meant the competition for food between the wolves and humans continued.
Posted 8 August 2011; 5:04:38 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar History, Circumpolar News, Research, Siberia
"NOVATEK" and the government of Yamal agreed about construction of the port Sabetta
(Yamal News, 13 April 2011) -- The modern multifunctional port Sabetta will be built on Yamal peninsula. This information was given by the first deputy governor of Yamal Vladimir Vladimirov in the course of the working trip to the settlement Seyakha (Yamalskiy district). By the information given in the press-service of the governor of Yamal, Vladimir Vladimirov conducted the conference with the head of Yamalskiy district Andrey Nesterouk, the head of the settlement Seyakha Igor Okotetto and the deputy chairperson of the administration of "NOVATEK" Yevgeniy Kot. The sides discussed questions of assistance to building of the port Sabetta on Yamal peninsula. The necessity of this building is stipulated with a decision not to bring shipment of liquefied gas farther to the north of the peninsula but to tie it to extractive fields. For realization of this project "NOVATEK" and the government of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug are to conduct bottom dredging on the waterway of Ob Estuary. The port Sabetta can become the key link in the scheme of transportation of not only liquefied gas from Yamal, but also products of fish and venison processing. By the words of Vladimir Vladimirov, if it will be possible to come out to the world level, without doubts, cargoes from Seyakha and Sabetta will go both to Europe and Asia.
Posted 17 April 2011; 11:57:56 AM. Permalink
Tagged: April11, Circumpolar News, Communities, Infrastructure, transportation, Oil and gas, mining, Russia, Siberia
Tinned goods of Yamal venison are recognized as the best product of this year
(Sever-Press, 3 March 2011) -- By the results of the food exhibition "ProdExpo 2011", which took place in Moscow, tinned products of reindeer meat won golden medals in the category "The Best Product of 2011". This information was given to IA "Sever-Press" in the press service of the head of the region. "Yamal stewed venison" and "Yamal paté" were made by the order of Yamalgossnab (the procurement agency) at Troitsk tinned food factory (Chelyabinsk). In addition, the row of contracts to deliver products of reindeer herding and fishing manufactured by Yamal producers to other regions of Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and to the Czech Republic were concluded on the exhibition.
Posted 7 March 2011; 10:39:29 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Economic issues, March11, Prizes, awards and recognitions, Russia, Siberia
(BarentsObserver, 3 March 2011) -- The new railway line connecting the Yamal Peninsula with the rest of the Russian railway grid is declared open to regular traffic. Regular operation of the 572-km long railroad to its terminal point – the Karskaya station – was launched in February 15. The line connects major regional installations like the Bovanenkovo gas field with national key infrastructure. The Obskaya-Bovanenkovo railway line will enable Gazprom to easily ship huge quantities of goods and construction materials to its field development sites in Yamal. "The opening of this railway will facilitate all-year-round, quick, cost efficient and not-weather-dependent transport of goods and personnel to the fields in Yamal under the harsh Arctic conditions," a press release from Gazprom reads. Unline other Russian railway lines, the Obskaya-Bovanenkovo line is owned by Gazprom. As previously reported, the Russian Railways have been invited to take over the line, but has shown little interest. In addition to railway and field development in Yamal, Gazprom is also investing in the laying of the Bovanenkovo-Ukhta gas pipeline.
Posted 3 March 2011; 10:18:26 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Infrastructure, transportation, March11, Russia, Siberia
Crew commander killed, 15 passengers injured in copter crash in Russian Arctic
(RIA Novosti, 19 December 2010) -- A Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashed on the Russian Arctic island of Yamal on Sunday, killing the crew commander and injuring 15 passengers, a spokesman for Russian Aviation Committee (Rosaviatsia) said. There were 15 passengers and three crewmembers aboard the helicopter. "The passengers received injuries of various degree of gravity while the crew commander was killed," the spokesman said, adding that the fate of the other two crewmembers was unknown. The Mi-8 helicopter owned by Yamal Airline was delivering geologists from the town of Labytnanga to the Bovanenkovo hydrocarbon field, which Russian energy giant Gazprom is developing, the spokesman said. The helicopter was landing in the conditions of polar night and was destroyed after hitting the ground. Another helicopter of Yamal Airline has flown to the site of the incident to evacuate people injured in the crash, the spokesman said.
Posted 29 December 2010; 2:32:12 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, December10, Disasters, etc., Infrastructure, transportation, Russia, Siberia
Russia to export halal reindeer meat to Qatar
(Trude Pettersen/BarentsObserver, 21 December 2010) -- The Russian Arctic region of Yamalo-Nenets could become a new supplier of halal meat to Muslims in Qatar. When Governor Dmitry Kobylkin of Yamalo-Nenets, where most of Russia's gas is produced, was in Qatar for investment talks last month, he made an agreement with the Qatari leadership to start production of halal reindeer meat, Reuters reports. Upon return to Yamal, home to 700,000 reindeer and 500,000 people, Kobylkin had the state-owned Yamal Reindeer Company arrange for ritual Islamic slaughter and the trial production of 1,000 cans of halal reindeer meat. This week Qatari officials will get their first taste of reindeer at a Russia-Qatar investment forum in Doha where Kobylkin's deputy will present the Reindeer Company’s business plan to expand into halal meat production and product exports. Reindeer herding and meat production is Yamalo-Nenets’ No 3 industry after oil and gas. Yamal produces 85 percent of Russia's gas and 15 percent of its oil. The state-owned Yamal Reindeer Company received EU certification to export in 2006. Also among Russia’s Muslim community there is a large demand for halal products and the Yamal Reindeer Company hopes to be able to market halal canned reindeer within Russia.
Posted 22 December 2010; 10:20:14 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, December10, Economic issues, International, Russia, Siberia
Norilsk Nickel plans $20 billion program to boost Arctic output
(Ilya Khrennikov/Bloomberg, 18 October 2010) -- OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel’s polar division, the mining company’s biggest earner in the past decade, will spend $20 billion by 2030 to stop production from falling, according to its head Evgeny Muravyov. The division must invest in new projects to counter dwindling output as the ore it mines yields less metal, Muravyov said in an interview in Norilsk, a town north of Siberia where the unit is based. The division must raise ore output by about 3 percent a year to keep nickel production flat, he said. The polar business has accounted for as much as 80 percent of Norilsk Nickel’s profit since the company’s sale by the state in 1997, and fueled its expansion abroad. Its metallurgical complex north of the Arctic Circle has mined more than $200 billion of nickel, copper, palladium and platinum -- based on current prices -- since 1935, when prisoners of Josef Stalin’s labor camps began production there. At stake is the productivity a company that supplies 22 percent of the world’s nickel, a silvery metal used in stainless steel and batteries, and 40 percent of the world’s palladium, used in jewelry and pollution-control equipment for vehicles. “We still have reserves sufficient for at least 80 years and can mine another $200 billion of metals and hopefully more, as the share of more expensive platinum-group metals in our production is set to increase in 20 years,” Muravyov said.
Posted 31 October 2010; 2:52:17 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Economic issues, October 2010, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Siberia
Siberian crane gets international support: UN
(RedOrbit, 24 February 2010) -- The United Nations reported on Wednesday that several countries, including Russia, Iran and China, are working together to bring back the Siberian Crane form the brink of extinction. The pure white, 55-inch tall crane is considered to be critically endangered with a population of less than 3,500 individuals left. But, with the help of the international community, “the future of the Siberian crane is looking brighter,” said Claire Mirande, director of the Siberian Crane Wetland Project. The large crane is migratory and flies 3,100 miles every year from its breeding habitat in northern Siberia to Iran and southern China. Many wetland regions along its migration route are being drained for farming. The project to save the bird is being supported by the Global Environment Facility and being implemented by the International Crane Foundation through the UN Environment Program. This is the first project of its kind to take on a ‘flyway’ approach to secure the future of the species. Flyways are flight paths that birds use for the annual migration from breeding grounds to wintering areas. Many times these flyways span oceans and continents.
Posted 24 February 2010; 4:18:01 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Conservation and Wildlife, Far East Russia, Flora and Fauna, Russia, Siberia
Preparing for exploration off Yamal
(BarentsObserver, 19 February 2010) -- A Russian government service is to evaluate a report on the exploration of the shelf west of the Yamal Peninsula. The Russian Service on Ecological, Technological and Nuclear control is to conduct a state evaluation of materials on the mapping of the waters west of the Yamal Peninsula, the government body informs on its website. The waters outside Yamal are along with the Kara Sea believed to contain major amounts of hydrocarbons, and first of all natural gas. Gazprom is currently in the process of developing land-based fields in the Yamal Peninsula. Those fields, among them the huge Bovanenkovo field, could pave the way also for offshore developments. It is Gazprom which has the licenses to the fields in the area. The Ministry of Natural Resources will, in the course of February, publish a report on the development of the Russian shelf, RIA Novosti reports.
Posted 21 February 2010; 1:03:11 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, February10, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Resource Issues, Russia, Siberia
Oil pipe exploded in Yamal tundra
(BarentsObserver.com, 9 December 2009) -- Oil spill covered 100 square meters of land after an explosion in an oil-gathering line in the Yamalo-Nenets Okrug last week. According to the local Emergency Management Service, the accident was probably caused by metal fatigue, Uralinform.ru writes. A fire broke out, but was reported to have been put out quickly. No people were harmed in the accident and there was no danger of fire spreading. The pipe belongs to the company Rosneft-Purneftegaz.
Posted 11 December 2009; 4:17:49 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Contaminants and Pollution, December09, Disasters, etc., Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Russia, Siberia
(Barents Observer, 16 November 2009) -- Industrial production in the far northern Nenets Autonomous Okrug increased 38.5 percent year-on-year in the first six months of 2009, the latest Barents Monitoring report confirms. That, however, is all thanks to Lukoil’s new Yuzhno-Khilchuyu oil field. The report, which is written by the Norwegian Barents Secretariat’s regional office in the Nenets AO, shows a positive dynamics in regional industrial production. However, other parts of the economy struggle with serious problems. The report shows that the oil-rich region with a population of only 42,300 in the first half of the year had an industrial production growth of 38.5 percent. A major increase in oil production was what made the positive trend. Oil production, including natural gas condensate, increased by more than 35 percent to a total of 9.08 million tons. Also electric power generation increased significantly in the region, with 28.5 percent year-on-year growth to a total of 475.2 million KWH. At the same time, the construction industry in the region showed a serious drop. The volume of work in the regional construction declined by as much as 52.9 percent compared to the same period in 2008. Housing construction dropped by 68.4 percent compared 2008. A total of 127 flats, or 6,300 square meters, was built in January-June 2009. Also investments dropped significantly in the region. According to the report, a total of 19.69 billion rubles were invested in the period, which is a 57.3 percent drop compared with the same period of 2008. The Nenets Autonomous Okrug still remains one regions with the highest salaries in Russia. The average accrued salary in the region was 42,566 rubles, which is up by 8.9% compared to the same period of 2008.
Posted 16 November 2009; 3:53:22 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Economic and Commerce Issues, November09, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Yamal plans may overrun Arctic tribe
(UpstreamOnline, 6 October 2009)** -- The Nenets tribespeople of Russia's frozen Yamal peninsula have survived the age of the Tsars, the Bolshevik revolution and the chaotic 1990s, but now confront their biggest challenge—under their fur-bundled feet is enough gas to heat the world for five years. "For them it is fortune, for us terror," said 20-year-old herder Andrei Yezgini, dressed from head to toe in reindeer skin, referring to ambitious plans by state gas monopoly Gazprom to drill the region. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has described Yamal as "the world's storehouse" of gas and oil. Putin jetted into the sparsely populated region within the Arctic circle, 2000 kilometres (1250 miles) north-east of Moscow, in late September to woo foreign partners to develop a quarter of the world's known gas reserves. Experts and the Nenets say industry will damage and pollute the tundra, whose flat marshy terrain switches from marigold russets in summer to thick winter snow and is peppered with disc-like thermokarst lakes and crystal blue waterways. Nenets migrate north to south over 150 kilometres every year, spending only a few days in one place, living off reindeer and fish and lugging their "chums," or tents, kerosene lamps and wood-fired stoves on reindeer-pulled sleighs. "The fact they've found deposits here is catastrophic," said Slava Vanuito, 34.
Posted 8 October 2009; 3:24:41 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Contaminants and Pollution, Indigenous Issues, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Resource Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Khanty-Mansiy AO delegation visits Orkneys
(Khanty-Mansi AO press service, 26 August 2009) -- The official delegation of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug returned from Scotland. It had been invited by the Board of the Orkney Islands. Governor of Ugra Alexander Filipenko tasked Chair of the Regional Duma Vasili Sondykov to be the head of the delegation. The other members of the delegation are Deputy Chairman of the Government for information policy Oleg Goncharov and First Vice-President of the Khanty-Mansiysk Bank Alexander Smirnov. The members of the delegation participated in the ceremony of unveiling the Memorial for Russian-British Arctic Convoy to be located on one of the Orkney Islands where the fleet of the anti-Hitler coalition states had been located. About 300 participants of the ceremony were welcomed by Vasili Sondykov, Lord-Lieutenant, Consul General of Russia Sergei Krutikov. In his welcoming speech Chair of the Regional Duma expressed gratitude to people of the Islands for courage and Arctic Convoy for help, rendered to the Soviet Union while World War II. While the visit the members of the Ugra delegation held several working meetings with the Chair of the Board of the Orkney Islands Steven Hagan, representative of the Scottish Parliament Richard Gibson, leaders of structures which are in charge of development of tourism, education, transport, power engineering. They discussed issues of organizing the cooperation in education, use of renewable sources of energy, supplies of high-quality food, seafood and etc. The topic of the development of “mutual tourism” between Ugra and the territory of Northern Scotland was of special interest. The interlocutors exchanged proposals which after the thorough study will possibly turn into documents to develop mutually beneficial cooperation of two northern regions.
Posted 27 August 2009; 3:54:27 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Europe, Expeditions, exploration, and field trips, International, Prizes, awards and recognitions, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Nenets shaman Ivan Yadne is a candidate for the title of the Supreme shaman of Russia
(Sever Press IA, 23 April 2009) -- The election of the Supreme shaman of the country will take place in Russia. There are 188 candidates entering the common register of active shamans of Russia in the preliminary list of candidates. By the information given to a correspondent of IA "Sever-Press" by specialists of the magazine "Shamanstvo" (Shamanism), which is one of the organizers of the contest, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug will be presented by the hereditary Nenets shaman, a narrator and a master of martial Nenets art Ivan Yadne. Ivan Yadne was born in 1955 in Nadym district. His grandfather and father were shamans, and senior brothers of his father are keepers of the sacral tradition. In 1990 he graduated from Leningrad state pedagogical institute, the faculty of physical culture and sports. From 1990 to 1994 he worked as a teacher of military training and a course of valeology in a boarding-school. At that time he wrote his first book "Essays of physical culture of Nenets people". Soon Ivan Yadne left the town for the settlement Nyda. He conducts exclusively healthy way of life, gives much time to sports trainings and shaman meditations. His shaman name is Sar Noom Tou, what means "White lightning". Ivan Yadne is a coach on boxing, judo, national wrestling of the North people, sambo (art of self-defense) and Nenets martial art "khokhorey min". He has got 4 children. He wrote but did not publish the books "Wisdom of grandfathers - fairytales of our childhood" and "Secrets of a Siberian shaman".
Posted 24 April 2009; 4:20:33 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Indigenous Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia
"The Northern civilization": national trades, crafts, culture and everyday life
(Sever Press IA, 23 April 2009) -- The fourth International specialized exhibition-fair "The Northern civilization - 2009" is opened in Moscow in the All-Russian exhibition center. The exhibition is orientated to demonstration of products of indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East: hunting, fishing, deer herding, suggestions on development of ecological and ethnic tourism, on business contacts with potential partners. The chairperson of the Committee of the Federation Council on Affairs of the North, Gennadiy Oleynik, greeted the participants on behalf of the Federation Council. He reminded that in 2006 the committee had been among the first ones to support the initiative of the Association of indigenous ethnic minorities of the North, Siberia and the Far East of Russian Federation about conducting of the first exhibition-fair on grounds of the All-Russian exhibition center. By the words of the parliamentarian, today the exhibition became yearly. Especially it needs to mark increasing interest to the exhibition from the side of not only northern and far eastern regions but also of foreign participants. It vividly demonstrates that indigenous peoples preserve their original culture, native languages, traditional way of life, economy and trades in spite of extreme conditions of life, social problems, additional problems, which appeared in connection with the world financial crisis. By the words of Gennadiy Oleynik, for national enterprises and communities of indigenous ethnic minorities of the North, Siberia and the Far East the exhibition-fair gives the opportunity not only to present unique and ecologically pure products of traditional trades and crafts, but also to find potential investors and partners for further development of business and also to receive coming out to Russian and international sale markets.
Posted 24 April 2009; 3:13:54 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Conferences, meetings, and gatherings, Cultural Matters, Economic and Commerce Issues, Indigenous Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Putin petitioned to kill plans for Siberian hydropower station
(ENS, 13 February 2009) -- MOSCOW, Russia - A petition against the construction of a giant hydroelectric power station in Siberia that critics say would threaten the indigenous population and an entire larch forest ecosystem was handed to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin this week. Signed by more than 8,000 people, the petition was organized and presented to Putin by WWF-Russia, Greenpeace-Russia, and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North as well as other nongovernmental organizations. The construction project, in the Evenk municipal district, could drive as many as 2,000 Evenki out of their homes and reindeer pasture lands and, according to the evaluation data, one million hectares of unique larch forest would be flooded. To generate power, a dam would be constructed on the Lower Tunguska River. The environmental and indigenous groups warn that one of the three radioactive underground nuclear explosion areas in the Tunguska flood plain would be flooded as a result of the construction. Russian engineers say the Evenk hydroelectric power station would be the largest in Russia, and with the project capacity of 20,000 megawatts, one of the largest in the world. The construction is expected to take 18 years to complete. In 1988, the Soviet Union canceled plans to construct a dam at the same site after then Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev questioned the policy of building giant hydro-power stations. "The building of the Turukhansk, now Evenk, hydropower station was rejected at the end of the '80s because of the results of serious environmental and economic examinations," said Mikhail Kreindlin of Greenpeace-Russia. "The revival of this project will mean a return to the most dreadful times in the ex-USSR administrative command system," he said. Hydro-OGK, the Russian hydroelectric power company behind the project, says the power station is needed for economic development in the region.
Posted 15 February 2009; 12:52:19 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Alternative Energy / Climate Change Responses, Circumpolar News, Indigenous Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
Yamal railway track speeds on through reindeer migration route
(BarentsObserver via Reindeer Blog, 21 January 2009) -- The construction of the Obskaya-Bovanenkovo railway line to the Bovanenkovo gas field in the Yamal Peninsula is proceeding rapidly. The railway will facilitate the construction of the field, the biggest in the Yamal peninsula, which is also the home of the worlds largest area of reindeer husbandry. The railway is to be completed and connected with the main Russian railway network by early 2010, is proceeding rapidly despite the complicated climatic and geological conditions, as reported by Rosbalt.ru reports with reference to Ruskompress.ru. A total of 4,7 km of bridges were constructed in 2008 and 24,5 meters of new bridges are now built every day, the news sites write. A total of 1300 workers are involved in the operations. For the past two summer migration season, EALAT Phd student Anna Degteva has been migrating with different brigades whose migration routes are crossed by this railway, the impacts of which will be part of her study. The Bovanenkovo gas field alone, the biggest of the fields in the area, has gas reserves estimated at 4.9 trillion cubic meters.
Posted 29 January 2009; 12:02:34 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Cultural Matters, Russia, Siberia / Russia
First Americans arrived as 2 separate migrations, according to new genetic evidence
(Cell Press press release via EurekAlert! 8 January 2009) -- The first people to arrive in America traveled as at least two separate groups to arrive in their new home at about the same time, according to new genetic evidence published online on January 8th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. After the Last Glacial Maximum some 15,000 to 17,000 years ago, one group entered North America from Beringia following the ice-free Pacific coastline, while another traversed an open land corridor between two ice sheets to arrive directly into the region east of the Rocky Mountains. (Beringia is the landmass that connected northeast Siberia to Alaska during the last ice age.) Those first Americans later gave rise to almost all modern Native American groups of North, Central, and South America, with the important exceptions of the Na-Dene and the Eskimos-Aleuts of northern North America, the researchers said. "Recent data based on archeological evidence and environmental records suggest that humans entered the Americas from Beringia as early as 15,000 years ago, and the dispersal occurred along the deglaciated Pacific coastline," said Antonio Torroni of Università di Pavia, Italy. "Our study now reveals a novel alternative scenario: Two almost concomitant paths of migration, both from Beringia about 15,000 to 17,000 years ago, led to the dispersal of Paleo-Indians—the first Americans." Such a dual origin for Paleo-Indians has major implications for all disciplines involved in Native American studies, he said. For instance, it implies that there is no compelling reason to presume that a single language family was carried along with the first migrants. When Columbus reached the Americas in 1492, Native American occupation stretched from the Bering Strait to Tierra del Fuego, Torroni explained. Those native populations encompassed extraordinary linguistic and cultural diversity, which has fueled extensive debate among experts over their interrelationships and origins. Recently, molecular genetics, together with archaeology and linguistics, has begun to provide some insights. In the new study, Ugo Perego and Alessandro Achilli of Torroni's team analyzed mitochondrial DNA from two rare haplogroups, meaning mitochondrial types that share a common maternal ancestor. Mitochondria are cellular components with their own DNA that allow scientists to trace ancestry and migration because they are passed on directly from mother to child over generations. Their results show that the haplogroup called D4h3 spread from Beringia into the Americas along the Pacific coastal route, rapidly reaching Tierra del Fuego. The other haplogroup, X2a, spread at about the same time through the ice-free corridor between the Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets and remained restricted to North America. " A dual origin for the first Americans is a striking novelty from the genetic point of view and makes plausible a scenario positing that within a rather short period of time, there may have been several entries into the Americas from a dynamically changing Beringian source," the researchers concluded.
Posted 9 January 2009; 11:01:43 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar History, Circumpolar News, North America, Siberia / Russia
Russian Navy aircraft test new equipment over the Arctic
(RIA Novosti, 4 September 2008) -- MURMANSK - Tu-142MK aircraft from Russia's Northern Fleet conducted on September 2-3 reconnaissance flights over the Barents and Laptev seas and successfully tested new electronic on-board equipment, the fleet's press service said Thursday. Tu-142 Bear-F is the maritime reconnaissance/strike version of the Tu-95 Bear strategic bomber, designed mainly for anti-submarine warfare. "The tests of new on-board electronic equipment and weapons-control systems showed their high effectiveness," the press service said in a statement. The flights have been conducted strictly in accordance with international agreements and the norms of international law, the statement said. Russia has recently stepped up regular patrols over the Arctic and said it may soon shift the focus of its military strategy toward the northern latitudes in order to protect its national interests in the Arctic, especially on its continental shelf, which may contain large deposits of oil and natural gas.
Posted 4 September 2008; 4:45:33 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Arctic Ocean, Circumpolar News, International, Northwest / Russia, Russia, Siberia / Russia
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta via BarentsObserver, 13 August 2008) -- A group of Russians on the Taimyr Peninsula have formed the first ever Cossack stanitsa (village) north of the Arctic Circle. "Our zone of responsibilities stretch all the way to the North Pole," the local Cossack leader says. Mr. Vyacheslav Krivonogog, leader (ataman) of the stanitsa says to Rossiiskaya Gazeta that the Cossack movement in the region is getting ever stronger. The members of the movement, all of them descendants of Cossacks from other parts of Russia, have now joint forces in the creation of the northernmost ever Cossack village. The village is located in the Taimyrski municipal rayon, a part of the Krasnoyarsk Kray. "Now, our main task is to bring up our young people in a patriotic spirit," ataman Andrey Voronin says. He also confirms that his fellow Cossacks assist regional law enforcement authorities in patrolling the coast of the Taimyr Peninsula, as well as islands along the coast of the Arctic Ocean.
Posted 13 August 2008; 8:26:11 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Acid rain traces support meteor theory for 1908 Tunguska blast
(RIA Novosti, 30 June 2008) -- MOSCOW - International researchers investigating the Tunguska Event, an explosion exactly 100 years ago in central Siberia, say acid rain traces in the region back up the theory that the blast was caused by a meteorite. On June 30, 1908, an explosion equivalent to between 5 and 30 megatons of TNT occurred approximately 7-10 km (3-6 miles) above the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in a remote Siberian region. "Extremely high temperatures occurred as the meteorite entered the atmosphere, during which the oxygen in the atmosphere reacted with nitrogen causing a build up of nitrogen oxides," one of the authors of the joint research, Natalia Kolesnikova, told RIA Novosti. Kolesnikova said a similar impact 66 million years ago wiped out a significant portion of life on Earth, including the dinosaurs. The Tunguska blast flattened 80 million trees, destroying an area of around 2,150 sq km (830 sq miles). However, despite the shockwaves being detected as far away as the United Kingdom, the Tunguska Event went largely unnoticed, eclipsed by global events leading up to WWI, the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war. It took almost 20 years, until 1927, before a research expedition led by Leonid Kulik, a leading meteorite expert at the Academy of Sciences, first managed to visit the remote Siberian region and see the awesome destruction caused by the blast, and to take witness statements from locals living in the area. It was assumed that a huge meteorite had hit the area, although Kulik failed, during his research in Siberia, to find an obvious crater. In 1930, a British astronomer suggested the blast could have been caused by a small comet, composed of ice and dust, which would have been vaporized on impact with the Earth's atmosphere. The research carried out by the Moscow State Lomonosov University, Italy's Bologna University and Germany's Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig backs up the most likely theory of a meteor explosion.
Posted 30 June 2008; 7:06:13 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar History, Circumpolar News, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Research / Reports, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Yamal craftsmen will come to the International festival
(Sever Press IA, 25 June 2008) -- The fifth International festival of crafts of Finno-Ugric peoples is starting in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (Yugra) on the 26th of June. Exhibitions, fairs, seminars, round tables and conferences, directed to support of folk art, will take place during ten days in the frames of the festival. In Surgut participants and guests of the festival will settle on the big motor-ship, on which they will go to the town Khanty-Mansiysk (the capital of the region). The town ground, on which the participants of the festival will present their regions and will conduct their master-classes, will be organized in the capital of Yugra. Yamal will present the exhibition of items from funds of the Regional House of crafts. This information was given to a correspondent of IA “Sever-Press” in the office of methodology of applied art of the Regional House of crafts. The delegation from Yamal includes the master on sewing of fur from the settlement Aksarka Alla Taishina (Priuralskiy district) and the master of wood and bone carving from the village Vosyakhovo Mikhail Anufriyev (Shuryshkarskiy district), he is well-known in Yamal. The capital of Yamal the town Salekhard will be presented by the original master of wood carving of traditional national articles Herman Nakov, Valentina Taibery, who is occupied with making souvenirs with northern themes with usage of fur and beading and Yelena Taragupta, who is occupied with beading. Different cultural-enlightening measures will take place in the frames of the festival. The participants of the festival will be able to visit the museum in the open air. The exhibition of works of wood-carvers will take place in the capital of Yugra. The jury will call the names of the most talented masters of folk art. [Archived copy of page]
Posted 29 June 2008; 3:33:03 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Conferences, meetings, and gatherings, Cultural Matters, Indigenous Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Arctic without ice a better-than-even chance this year
(The Australian, 28 June 2008) -- THE Arctic ice cap, damaged by a record melt last year, is at good odds to disappear altogether this northern summer, polar scientists have warned. The ice edge shrank to within about 1100km of the North Pole last year. The scientists say the chances of an ice-free North Pole this summer are greater than 50-50 because of last year's melt and the fact that thick ice has been blown way in recent years. What has replaced it is what the scientists call first-year ice—recent, thin and susceptible to melting. And when the ice breaks up, what is left is dark ocean—which absorbs more heat than reflective ice does, speeding up the melting at the ice edges. The satellite data of recent weeks is already showing the new ice is melting more quickly than last year's. "From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on the globe, but symbolically it is hugely important. There is supposed to be ice at the North Pole, not open water," scientist Mark Serreze, of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado, was quoted as saying in British newspaper The Independent. "The issue is that, for the first time that I'm aware of, the North Pole is covered with extensive first-year ice—ice that formed last autumn and winter," Dr Serreze said. "I'd say it's even-odds whether the North Pole melts out."
Posted 27 June 2008; 6:19:58 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Arctic Ocean, Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Siberia / Russia
Photogallery: Siberia's assets frozen by photographs
(Mike Sturk/Rob Galbraith DPI, 23 June 2008) -- National Geographic's Gerd Ludwig shows how Russia's vast northern region has been changed by oil wealth in an interesting photo gallery called Siberia's Frozen Assets. Awash in oil wealth, Siberia goes upscale.
Posted 24 June 2008; 1:30:17 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Internet Resources, Research / Reports, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Krasnoyarsk governor to visit Taimyr
(Newslab.ru, 23 May 2008) -- Krasnoyarsk Governor Alexander Khloponin will visit Taimyr. Mr Khloponin is expected to visit Norilsk, Khatanga, and Dixon, as Igor Astapov, the governor's press secretary, told KNews. In each of the territories the governor will hold meetings on social and economic development and visit a lot of social facilities. In particular, Alexander Khloponin will visit a recently built Ice Palace named after Rusanov in Kayerkan, a new kindergarten and Norilsk Traffic Safety Affairs Inspectorate. The governor will be shown a street surveillance system used to monitor the traffic situation in the city. In Dixon Mr Khloponin will see a district hospital, a comprehensive school and Dixon Marine Port, and KrasAvia office in Khatanga. The official visit of the head of the region around the northern territories will take three days.
Posted 25 May 2008; 1:56:45 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Expeditions, exploration, and field trips, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Early presidential voting begins in Yamal
(Regnum.ru, 14 February 2008) -- From present day, on 15 February, in the territory of Yamal begins the early voting of the separate groups of voters in the most inaccessible and distant localities at the Presidential elections of the RF. According to the data of neighborhood election commission, early voting will go on in nine municipalities, including Guba, Muravlenko, Salekhard and New Urengoya. Early voting will be achieved by 54 district election commissions. Early voting will be conducted by ground-based and air transport. Possibility to vote will given to both the Indigenous peoples of the north and to voters from other groups, who work by watch method, whom in the territory of region are counted more than 30,000 people, reported IA "SEVER-PRESS". The early voting will be completed by 1 March. [Translation achieved by Babelfish; title link is to the original Russian article.]
Posted 14 February 2008; 9:08:28 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Autonomy, Governance, Legislation, Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Motorcade sent to Norilsk through snow storm
(Newslab.Ru, 30 January 2008) -- Several meetings on an emergency situation in the district due to the complicated weather conditions since January 2008 took place in Taymyr administration. Mean snowfall from January 12 to 30 has exceeded the average monthly norm nearly four times. The part of the federal highway from Dudinka to Alykel Airport and from Dudinka to Norilsk has been closed for all vehicles virtually for 18 days, Taymyr Duma reported. Clearing the roads from snow by Ekolog Ltd gives a short-term effect. Delivery of fresh food stuff to the city and passengers to the airport is missing. Some of the shops have run out of the stock of perishable goods. However, provision with food of schools and hospitals on Taymyr gives no reason for concern, as there is usually a two months' stock of food in all the educational and medical organizations. The food stock in Dudinka schools, kindergartens and hospitals is not as big as in the villages due to less active transport communication with Norilsk. Extra measures were taken at the emergency meeting. First of all, Taymyr authorities provided interaction between Ekolog Ltd, Dudinka marine port, Dudinka Government-Owned Bus Company, Passazhiravtotrans government-owned unitary enterprise, KrasAir and Siberia air companies. The marine port delivered special machinery to cover more than 36 km of the road covered with snow. At present a bus column is following snow removers to Norilsk to deliver food to health and educational organizations to Dudinka. Air passengers are delivered to Alykel Airport by all-terrain vehicles. Under an agreement, KrasAir and Siberia delay their flights in expectation of Taymyr citizens, as far as it is possible by weather conditions. They also take passengers who are late for other flights of these companies. All the passengers and machinery are accompanied by rescuers along Dudinka-Alykel Highway.
Posted 2 February 2008; 1:40:12 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
"The Northern family" will be chosen for the first time in Shuryshkarskiy district
(IA Sever-Press, 31 January 2008) -- Shuryshkarskiy district is preparing to the Day of the Reindeer herder. This year the holiday will take place in the end of February. By the information given to a correspondent of IA "Sever-Press" in the Board of agriculture and affairs of peoples of the North of the district administration, 2008 was announced as the Year of Family, that is why the contest "The Northern Family" will take place for the first time during the Day of the Deer herder celebration. There will be several categories: "Friendly family", "Northern cuisine", the contest of needlework among women, folklore skills, and also nominations for men and children. Besides, traditional race of reindeer teams and competitions on national [traditional] sports will take place in the frames of the holiday. Also ski competitions between women and between men will take place. Useful prizes are waiting for the winners: boat motors, chainsaws and portable electric generators. [Link is to an archived copy of the page.]
Posted 2 February 2008; 12:46:38 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Women, Children and Families
Reindeer herders meet oil industry
(RussiaToday via Barents Observer, 18 January 2008) -- The Nenets people is benefiting from the expanding oil industry in their home areas. At the same time, the oil fever could eventually deprive the indigenous people of their traditional lifestyle. Get a glimpse of the Nenets people in a film clip from Russia Today. Nenets nomadic traditions have survived for centuries on the far northern Russian tundra. Now, however, the Nenets lifestyle is taking a modern twist, Russia Today reports. According to the Russian TV-channel, a growing number of Nenets people are exchanging their traditional nomadic lifestyle with a more modern lifestyle, skipping reindeer herding in favour of jobs in the oil industry. The oil companies in the resources-rich region are also constructing houses for the former reindeer herders. And the reindeer slaughter industry are being modernized with traditional methods losing ground. Florian Stammler from the University of Rovaniemi, Finland, admits that the expanding oil industry does in many cases result in higher life standards for the Nenets people. At the same time he says that the Nenets traditions are under serious threat by the new trends.
Posted 19 January 2008; 9:23:43 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Cultural Matters, Indigenous Issues, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Russia, Siberia / Russia
“Russian North deserves better”
SeverPress via BarentsObserver, 18 January 2008) -- As much as 29 percent of all investments in Russia was in 2007 placed in the Russian North. In addition, the North contributed with 35 percent of all tax incomes in the country. Now, its time for Russia to treat the people of the North better, member of parliament, Gennadii Oleynik says. According to Mr. Oleynik, deputy in the Federation Council from the oil-rich Khanti-Mansiisk region, the Russian North in 2007 attracted 19,4 percent of all foreign investments placed in the country. In addition, 25 percent of all company profits generated in the country come from companies operating in the North. Mr. Oleynik chairs the Federation Council’s Committee of the North and Small Peoples. Lately, the situation in the Russian North has improved with both economic growth and reduced unemployment. However, the situation remains problematic. Since year 1990, the population in the Russian North has dropped from 12,8 million people to 10,6 million. In addition, the north has seen a significant aging of the population with the number of pensioners increasing from 20 percent to 26,5 percent of the regional population. Also life standards still lag behind the Russian average, and unemployment, despite the positive current tendences, remain far higher than in Russia major. Mr. Oleynik now calls on Russian decision-makers to facilitate conditions for continued growth in the North. He believes it must become more attractive for qualified specialists to work in the region, and that life conditions must be improved. For this to be achieved, social guarantees and compensations must be arranged for, he maintains. The Russia North, a huge and resource-rich area covering major parts of the country, remains the economic engine of Russia. However, the area, remains first of all a raw material producer and the profits to a growing extend ends up in Moscow.
Posted 19 January 2008; 9:00:27 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Far East / Russia, Northwest / Russia, Russia, Siberia / Russia
About 350 million rubles will be allocated in 2008 to develop northern deer herding
(SeverPress IA, 10 January 2008) -- In Yamal northern deer herding will receive considerable support in the frames of realization of the priority national project "Development of agro-industrial complex". Thus, it is planned to allocate 346.4 million rubles for these aims in 2008, 360.6 million in 2009 and 375 million in 2010. As employees of the regional department on development of agro-industrial complex mark, increase of subsidies for support of northern deer herding will allow attracting not only large commodity producers to sale market, but also national communities, private deer herding enterprises by stimulating of private deer herders for one kilogram of delivered meat. This is especially important because private deer livestock in the region almost two times exceeds public one. Allocation of subsidies for maintenance of pedigree dam livestock of reindeer is foreseen for the first time from the regional budget with the aim of recovery of pedigree qualities in deer herding. It is planned to allocate federal means higher than the level of 2006--on 34 million rubles on conditions of co-financing for support of northern deer herding and pedigree dam livestock of reindeer in the amount 80 million rubles. [Link is to an archived copy.]
Posted 12 January 2008; 2:34:50 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Conservation and Wildlife, Cultural Matters, Economic and Commerce Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues
Two Russians want to go to the North Pole in the middle of the night
(Arctic Council News, 20 December 2007) -- Two Russian adventurers plan to go the North Pole in the middle of the Arctic winter. This past summer Russia visited the sea bottom beneath the North Pole, and event that garnered a lot of media attention. Now the question is whether the next Russian visit to the North Pole will get the same attention. Last week two Russian adventurers, Matvei Shparo and Boris Smolin, announced that they were planning an unprecedented journey to the North Pole during the Arctic winter, reports RIA Novosti. The two Russians plan to begin their ski journey in days from the Arctic Cape, the northernmost point of the Russian Severnaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, and will spend at least two months on the ice. The journey, if successful, will be the first expedition of its kind. [Indeed, as far as I know, the attempt is the first of its kind.] Each of the two adventurers will pull two sledges with food and equipment weighing a total of 140 kilograms (308 pounds). During the polar night the temperature will not rise above -50° C (-58° F). One thing is sure—they won't run any risk of snow-blindness!
Posted 20 December 2007; 12:51:23 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Arctic Ocean, Circumpolar News, Expeditions, exploration, and field trips, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Truck sinks under ice on Angara River
(Newslab.ru, 17 December 2007) -- A KAMAZ truck sank under the ice while trying to cross the Angara over the ice, 100 meters away from the river bank on Saturday. The accident happened in Boguchansky District of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the chief department for internal affairs reported. Two men, 41 and 21, are supposed to have been inside the truck at the moment of the accident. They were identified as citizens of Boguchansky District. Police are working at the accident site. The Krasnoyarsk Territory chief department for internal affairs asks directors of enterprises and drivers to follow safety rules at the ice river crossings. Police also remind that it is prohibited to cross the Angara over the ice at present.
Posted 20 December 2007; 3:46:56 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Krasnoyarsk to exhibit Surikov's paintings in ice frames at New Year fir-tree
(Newslab.ru, 17 December 2007) -- Paintings by famous Krasnoyarsk artist Vasily Surikov will be exhibited in ice frames at the main fir-tree of Zheleznodorozhny district. The following famous canvasses will be exhibited in the ice frames 2x4 meters: "The Boyarynia Morozova", "Capture of the Snow Town", "Morning of the Strelets' Execution", and "Yermak Conquers Siberia", the mayor's office reported. Ice sculptors will make a real ice town with its trade side streets of the 19th century and an Orthodox church in Gagarin's Park. The 19th century was chosen on purpose: in 2008 Vasily Surikov would have celebrated his 160th birthday. The epoch when the great artist lived and worked will be reflected in the work of the ice town sculptors. A big New Year tree will also be installed in Gagarin's Park. It will consist of 100 small fir-trees. Snow hills will be constructed for adults and children, and a skating-rink will open. Guests of New Year Tree opening will be able to enjoy a great theater show with participation of the best district musical and dance groups, take part in a lot of contests with gifts and prizes on December 26.
Posted 19 December 2007; 5:30:44 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Arts and Artists, Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia
First congress of Indigenous peoples held in Krasnoyarsk
(Regnum.ru, 14 December 2007) -- The first congress of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North of the Krasnoyarsk region took place on 13 December. Twenty-eight delegates took part from Evenki and Taymyr municipal areas, Turukhansk, Severoyeniseysk and Tyrkhtetsk regions. During the congress, delegates approved the structure of the association, its executive, its charter and considered plans for development. Congress delegates also accepted a draft agreement of cooperation between the administration of the Krasnoyarsk region and the association. The congress concluded with the adoption of a congress resolution. The delegates urged the governor and territory to develop and adopt a state policy on the protection of the traditional way of life of northern people. The congress hopes to see a special state law on this. [Link is to the original Russian story.]
Posted 14 December 2007; 10:55:31 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Nenets deputies remove program of support of small people from session agenda
(Regnum.ru, 14 December 2007) -- The "Support of small people of the North for 2008-2010" program failed to pass the session coordination stage of preparation for the December session of the Assembly of deputies of Nenets autonomous region. Members of the assembly felt the program was too narrow in its approach. "The document addresses support of only one category of the Nenets population, the reindeer breeders and, as a consequence, does not provide for developmoent and preservation of the national culture," said the vice-presidentof the NAO assembly of deputies Ivan Ledkov. "There are 7,500 Nenets and support was going to go only to those who continue a nomadic way of life. This is only a small number, something like one and a half thousand people. What about the others? We, in fact, also have a Nenets intelligentsia, youth, elders, and other categories of citizens. Creative collectives, fishing communities, craftsmasters have all been dropped from the program." ... The program is intended to improve the quality of life of the nomadic population. More than have the budget was to be spent on purchase or construction of housing for herders. Other grants, for communities and farms were also included. ... [Title link is to the more complete story in Russian.]
Posted 14 December 2007; 10:46:08 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Autonomy, Governance, Legislation, Circumpolar News, Communities, Indigenous Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Nenets AO legalizes the Den Olenya holiday
(Regnum.ru, 14 December 2007) -- The main traditional holiday of reindeer breeders, which was held for the first time in the Nenets district in 1932, has been formally established. The NAO administration press service announced that the law "On the traditional holiday - Day of the Reindeer in Nenets Autonomous Region" was signed on 14 December 2007 by Valery Potapenko, head of the Nenets district. The holiday will be celebrated annually on 2 August. The law contains provisions for carrying out a professional holiday of reindeer breeders and for supporting festivities from the district budget. The date of the holiday was chosen to mark the end of the most difficult period in the annual round when the reindeer are in summer pastures and the beginning of the herds' movement to winter pastures. [Title link is to the original Russian story.]
Posted 14 December 2007; 10:26:55 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Autonomy, Governance, Legislation, Circumpolar News, Cultural Matters, Indigenous Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Northerners celebrating Taymyr Day today
(Newslab.ru, 10 December 2007) -- Citizens of the Krasnoyarsk Territory celebrate Taymyr Day today. The holiday was initially devoted to the establishment of Taymyr Autonomous District—December 10, 1935. In honor of the holiday Dudinka will hold a gala concert, which will begin with the festival award of winners and merited citizens of Taymyr. Moreover, several women of the municipal district will be awarded with "Woman's Glory" medal. The northerners will be congratulated by local and regional officials, the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory reported. Simultaneously, the concert will be festival closure "Believing in Russia, Loving Taymyr", the first cultural municipal project in the district.
Posted 11 December 2007; 3:05:40 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Cultural Matters, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Shell ready to invest "hundreds of billions" in Yamal
(The Times via BarentsObserver, 22 November 2007) -- Royal Dutch Shell and its partners have told the Russian Government that developing vast gasfields in the Siberian Arctic would take half a century and cost "hundreds of billions" of dollars, the Times reports. Jeroen van der Veer, Shell's chief executive, this month met with President Putin to discuss the proposed project in the Yamal Peninsula and Kara Sea. He was accompanied by a high-level Dutch business delegation. They estimated that the region could hold more than 30 trillion cubic metres of gas, more than the combined proved reserves of Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian gas monopoly, the Times writes. According to the newspaper, a slide presentation from GasTerra, one of the Dutch groups at the meeting, said: "Preliminary estimates of total investments for developing the gas and oilfields and supporting infrastructure are of the order of several hundred billion dollars."
Posted 22 November 2007; 4:28:40 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Economic and Commerce Issues, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Comment: The Dutch want to produce gas on Yamal
(Oleg Mityaev/Russian Information Agency Novosti, 9 November 2007)** -- Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende proposed that Russian and Dutch companies headed by Royal Dutch Shell should jointly develop the richest gas fields on the Yamal Peninsula located above the Arctic Circle. Although the Yamal Peninsula is in the sphere of strategic interests of Russian state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom, the Dutch initiative may appeal to the Russian authorities. On November 7, top managers of the Dutch companies met with Russia's Minister of Fuel and Energy Viktor Khristenko. Inspired by Gazprom's consent to Gasunie's participation in the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, they expressed the desire to become partners in the development of gas fields on the Yamal Peninsula and the Kara Sea shelf. A group of companies headed by British-Dutch group Royal Dutch Shell, which also included Gasunie, GasTerra, Essent and Van Oord, offered its unique technologies for hydrocarbons production and processing, pipeline construction and the creation of man-made islands for oil and gas producing and processing facilities.
Posted 9 November 2007; 12:57:47 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Krasnoyarsk ships carried 139,600 passengers for summer navigation
(Newslab.ru, 24 October 2007) -- Krasnoyarsk river passenger ships earned $3.72 million for summer navigation period this year. 139,600 passengers were carried for the season, as Denis Pashkov, deputy-head of the department of economic planning and industrial policy of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, announced during the visit of Krasnoyarsk shipyard today. The Krasnoyarsk Territory state-owned River Passenger Transportation (Passazhirrechtrans) was carrying passengers in eight directions between April 28 and October 15 in 2007: from Krasnoyarsk to Dudinka; from Krasnoyarsk to Bor; from Krasnoyarsk to Yartsevo; from Krasnoyarsk to Divnogorsk; from Yeniseisk to Bor; from Yeniseisk to Yartsevo; from the Trade Center to Ust-Mana; and from Shiroky Log to Motygino. Four passenger ships were involved in the transportation: the Valery Chkalov, the Alexander Matrosov, the Professor Bliznyak, the Mikhail Lermontov; and seven hydrofoils: the Voskhod-43, the Voskhod-56, the Voskhod-60, the Raketa-265, the Zarya-277, the Zarya-343, the Nordvik, and 22 landing-stages and platforms. The majority of passengers were carried from the Trade Center to Ust-Mana—48,400 passengers. Direction from Krasnoyarsk to Divnogorsk is the second in the number of passengers—30,700. Excursion routes were taken by 12,200 people. Up to 70 per cent of the total number of tickets were sold to the Valery Chkalov and the Alexander Matrosov ships.
Posted 26 October 2007; 12:54:07 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
Taimyr reindeer herders to get 50 radio stations
(Newslab.ru, 8 October 2007) -- Until the end of November Taimyr reindeer herders will get 50 "ICOM–78" wireless stations. One of the stations has already been delivered to the village of Khantaiskoe Ozero, 23 have been sent to the villages of Nosok, and 17 – to Tukhard, Taimyr Telegraph news agency reported. Khatanga and Potapovo reindeer herders are in turn. A basic radio station will be working in Dudinka. Taimyr has not obtained a license for using radio stations so far. The reindeer herders will be able to use the devices in cases of emergency only. It is worth mentioning that the purchase of the radio stations by the district authorities is a part of "Taimyr peoples" program. The local authorities spent about $60,000 on the program.
Posted 9 October 2007; 10:46:54 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues
Siberia feels the heat - and that's bad news
(Russia Today, 25 September 2007) -- While the melting of the Arctic ice cap may create opportunities to exploit its oil, gas and mineral deposits, the consequences for nearby Siberia could be disastrous. In the Siberian Republic of Yakutia, melting ice means solid land is turning to mud. And this softer ground is causing trees to topple and roads to sink. "This is a catastrophe for Northern Siberia," says Sergei Zimov, who's been studying Siberian frost for more than 25 years. He says this changing landscape will have disastrous effects: "All the towns and roads will be destroyed here. It will also lead to further warming of the globe which will be impossible to stop." But the biggest problem may lie below the surface. The thawing of frozen soil, known as permafrost, could trigger the release of billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane. Researchers say this could have a serious effect on the climate and increase the rate of global warming. Some of the effects are already plain to see. In just ten years a main road in a remote Siberian town has collapsed to become a bumpy canyon, seven metres deep in places. Many houses have been demolished or abandoned after the ancient ice under their foundations melted. Locals are also complaining that the thaw is disturbing their food supply due to swelling rivers. And these sorts of problems aren't unique to Siberia. If temperatures continue to rise, it will have implications for the whole planet.
Posted 29 September 2007; 4:38:23 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Environment and Landscape, Far East / Russia, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Polar hero says Russia will 'demand' Arctic in 2009
(PM/RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 180, Part I, 27 September 2007) -- The head of the recent Russian Arctic-2007 expedition to the North Pole, Artur Chilingarov, who is a polar explorer, Hero of the Soviet Union, and deputy speaker of the State Duma, said on September 25 that Russia will file the necessary papers with the UN to have the Lomonosov and Mendeleyev ridges in the Arctic verified as being extensions of the Russian continental shelf and hence Russian territory, kommersant.com reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," August 8 and September 21, 2007). He added that Russia will carry out "boring" on the seabed below the North Pole in 2008 in order to verify the results of recent tests of small soil samples brought back by minisubmarines in August. On September 20, the Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement that the samples provide scientific proof that the area is Russian. It said Russia will present the evidence to the UN under the terms of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. A UN commission rejected previous Russian claims to the area as lacking proof. Canada, Denmark, Norway, and the United States also have claims there. Those countries criticized as anachronistic the latest Russian mission, which also planted a titanium Russian flag on the seabed. The area is believed to be rich in mineral, oil, and gas deposits. Kommersant.com reported on September 25 that "hydrocarbon reserves are estimated at about 10 billion tons."
Posted 27 September 2007; 5:00:31 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Arctic Ocean, Autonomy, Governance, Legislation, Circumpolar News, International, Russia, Siberia / Russia
(Newslab.ru - Siberia News, 26 September 2007) -- The first snow fell in Norilsk on Wednesday, Taimyr Telegraph news agency reported. According to the weather forecast, air temperature is expected to drop to the zero in the northern city within a few days. Occasional sleet is forecast too. Last year the first fall of snow occurred in Norilsk on October 1. There is usually a snow cover in Norilsk 244 days a year.
Posted 26 September 2007; 11:55:55 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Environment and Landscape, Russia, Siberia / Russia
No survivors on Mi-8 helicopter found in northwest Siberia
(RIA Novosti, 21 September 2007) -- All six passengers and crew have been found dead on board an Mi-8 helicopter that went missing in northwest Siberia on September 9, the regional rescue service announced on Friday. The helicopter's wreckage was discovered yesterday on a mountain in the Yamal Peninsula, the northernmost part of the Yamalo Nenets Autonomous Area, but helicopters were unable to safely land on the mountain to investigate. "Rescuers reached and identified the helicopter today. All six people on board—the pilots and researchers—have been found dead," a spokesperson for the regional emergencies department said. Contact with the helicopter, carrying scientists from an aero-geophysics center involved in a geomagnetic research, was lost a few hours after it took off from the village of Shchuchye, 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the autonomous area's administrative center, Salekhard. The spokesperson said investigators have yet to recover flight data recorders to establish the cause of the crash. The wreckage is on the Khanmei mountain, at a height of 1,333 meters (4,400 feet) above sea level. Crashes of Mi-8 Hip transport helicopters, first introduced to the Soviet Air Force in the late 1960s, are a relatively common occurrence in Russia. Several accidents involving the helicopter have occurred in recent months. Six people including two Polish tourists died following a crash of an Mi-8 in the Magadan Region in Russia's Far East last Saturday. On Tuesday an Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Tomsk Region in west Siberia, injuring at least 11 people. An Mi-8 crashed in the Yamalo Nenets Autonomous Area in early July, but all passengers and crew survived.
Posted 21 September 2007; 12:20:27 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
People killed by bear in Krasnoyarsk Territory identified
(Newslab.ru, 20 September 2007) -- People killed by a bear in Yeniseisky District in the Krasnoyarsk Territory were identified as two seasonal workers from Lesosibirsk, aged 50 and 52. Head of the local administration Sergey Yermakov reported about the accident to the operative board at 8.00 am on Tuesday. A bear had killed two people in the village of Novonazimovo, which is located 300 km away from the district center. Police officers of Yermakovo District were sent to the accident site by helicopter. It was established that the predator had penetrated to the house in Yermaka St., which was used as a hotel, where two seasonal workers from Lesosibirsk lived. The bear attacked one of the workers, while the other man ran away into the street, reached the next house and reported about the accident. When he returned into the house, the bear attacked him too. The neighbors reported the head of the administration about the accident. A man and a hunter gunned down the animal through the window using their own guns.
Posted 20 September 2007; 4:32:50 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Krasnoyarsk Territory doctors counted alcohol addicts in region
(Newslab.ru, 20 September 2007) -- Up to 400,000 citizens of the Krasnoyarsk Territory are alcohol addicts. Igor Kulakov, chief medical officer of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Narcological Dispensary, announced at the session of the regional interdepartmental committee on counteraction against drug and alcohol addiction on September 19. Experts estimate the number of alcohol addicts registered officially in the dispensary. In 2007 diagnosis "alcohol addiction" was given to 45,000 regional citizens. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of alcohol addicts do not apply for medical aid, some of them have courses of treatment in the private hospitals. A positive tendency consists in the decrease of the number of cases of alcohol psychosis. "The Krasnoyarsk Territory was the third in the country on this criteria a few years ago. We had one case per 1,000. 74 cases of psychosis per 100,000 people were registered in 2005, while in 2006 there were 65 cases," Kulakov told.
Posted 20 September 2007; 4:30:46 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Health and wellness, Research / Reports, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Ship runs aground on Yenisei, four injured
(Newslab.ru - Siberia News, 7 September 2007) -- A passenger ship ran aground on the Yenisei River in Turukhansky District. A distress signal was received by the operative board of the district interior department around 11.00 am on September 6. The Voskhod-60 express ship was heading from the village of Bor to Yeniseisk, as the Krasnoyarsk Territory Chief Directorate for Internal Affairs reported. The ship got stranded at the 525th km of the Angara estuary. The ship was carrying 30 passengers including two children. Four people were injured, all of them received medical assistance. No one was hospitalized. As a result of the accident, the ship damaged its nose wing and body. The preliminary reason of the accident is low visibility. The ship is being refloated now.
Posted 9 September 2007; 11:59:07 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
"Sovetskaya Arktika" ship wrecked on Yenisei River
(Newslab.ru, Siberia News, 6 August 2007) -- The Sovetskaya Arktika ship was wrecked on the Yenisei River near the village of Kononovo, Sukhobuzimo District of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The private dry cargo carrier got stranded 100 km from Krasnoyarsk on Friday. The cause of the accident was that the steersman headed away from the fairway for some reason, the Yenisei River Steam Navigation press service reported. The ship was set afloat in 12 hours. Investigation of the cause of the accident is being undertaken by Krasnoyarsk Territory Directorate for State Marine and River Navigation Inspectorate (Gosmorrechnadzor). No damage was caused to the vessel, as Yuri Ryazanov, head of the regional department of Gosmorrechnadzor, said. It should only be found out why the steersman misled the vessel now, Ryazanov explained. Since the ship is privately owned, the Yenisei River Steam Navigation did not render assistance free of charge. The cost of the service will be assessed by the hour.
Posted 6 August 2007; 11:51:59 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Russia, Siberia, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
Another Russian polar mission taking off today
(B-port.ru via BarentsObserver, 2 August 2007) -- A Russian research expedition today sailed off from Arkhangelsk towards Arctic waters with the main aim to study climate changes in the area. The more than 30-man big group will spend 100 days on the research vessel Ivan Petrov in the Barents, Kara, Laptev Seas. The expedition, named Baraklav-2007, is organised by the Russian Arctica and Antarctica Institute. According to B-port.com, the expedition will be a major contribution to new knowledge about the area. The research results will become available for international science environment. The expedition is financed over the federal budget. [In Russian.]
Posted 2 August 2007; 4:17:49 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Expeditions, exploration, and field trips, Northwest / Russia, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Russia prepares for offshore gas pipeline from Yamal
(Regnum.ru via BarentsObserver, 1 August 2007) -- A group of researchers from the State Ocean Geographical Institute have this summer spent 24 days on studying a projected gas pipeline, which is to run offshore from the western shore of the Yamal Peninsula to the mainland. The studies are part of Gazprom’s huge planned investment projects in the area. According to Regnum, the expedition is considered successful by the organisers. Gazprom has made the Yamal peninsula one of its top priorities and is now looking for new transport routes for the abundant natural gas. The Bovanenkovskoe field is the first main investment object. Gazprom board member Aleksandr Medvedev last fall said the Russian gas major the next 25 years plans to invest about 40 billion USD in the field, which by year 2015 is to produce an annual 150 billion cubic meters. Preliminary studies have concluded that it will be most favourable for Gazprom to build a 2500 km long new gas pipeline from the Bovanenkovskoe field towards the existing pipeline grid in the Komi Republic. This route includes 72 km of pipeline to be laid from the western shore of the Yamal peninsula and across the Baydaratskaya Bay. According to project plans, two parallel pipelines will be built across the bay, one main pipeline and one reserve pipeline. The water depths in the area are about 22 meters and ice covers the waters up to 10 months per year.
Posted 1 August 2007; 4:28:08 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
(Siku Circumpolar News, 1 August 2007) -- Gazprom wants to run a pipeline from the western shore of the Yamal Peninsula to the mainland. The studies are part of Gazprom's plans for huge oil and gas projects in the area. A group of researchers from the State Ocean Geographical Institute spent 24 days this summer studying a projected gas pipeline. This pipeline would run offshore from the western shore of the Yamal Peninsula to the mainland. The studies are part of Gazprom’s plans for huge projects in the area. Gazprom has made the Yamal peninsula one of its top priorities and is now looking for new transport routes for its abundant natural gas, in the Bovanenkovskoe field. Prelimininary studies say Gazprom should build a 2,500 kilometre-long new gas pipeline from the Bovanenkovskoe field towards the existing pipeline grid in the Komi Republic. This route includes 72 km of pipeline to be laid from the western shore of the Yamal peninsula and across the Baydaratskaya Bay. According to project plans, two parallel pipelines will be built across the bay, one main pipeline and one reserve pipeline. The water is about 22 metres in the bay and ice cover is present upto 10 months per year. A report written by Sergey Miryonok, a representative of the Piter Gaz company, says the geological land formations in the area are complex. He also writes that the laying of the pipeline will be complicated by the ice conditions. The Baydaratskaya Bay does not have a well developed fishing industry. The area still has rich fish stocks and unique Arctic ecosystems. Miryonok says the gas pipelines will so little harm to the environment in the area, but that there are certain risks linked with the process of laying the pipes. A total of 11 gas fields and 15 condensate fields, with as much as 10.4 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves, 228.3 million tons of condensate and 291.8 million tons of oil have been opened in Yamal. Together with the Kharasaveyskoe and Novoportskoe fields, the Bovanenkovskoe field contains an estimated 5.9 trillion cubic meters of gas, 100.2 million tons of condensate and 227 million tons of oil. Nearly all the Yamal fields are under the control of Gazprom.
Posted 1 August 2007; 9:57:58 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
(Doug O'Harra/Far North Science, 26 July 2007) -- Global warming may expose even more secrets of the ice age. The well-preserved remains of a four-month-old baby woolly mammoth recovered from melting permafrost in Siberia last spring will now undergo sophisticated testing and analysis at University of Michigan for testing. Scientists hope to pinpoint exactly how long ago the creature died, among other things. “It’s the best and most complete mammoth carcass—baby or adult—ever found,” said Daniel Fisher, curator of paleontology at the U-M Museum of Paleontology and part of a six-member international team that examined the frozen, nearly intact remains of a 4-month-old female woolly mammoth. ... This four-month-old specimen was discovered by reindeer breeder Yuri Khudi when it emerged from an eroding riverbank in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenetsk region, its belly full and tissues preserved. The critter got the nickname “Lyuba” after Khudi’s wife. The discovery of the mammoth in such good condition — with the possibility of relatively intact DNA—triggered widespread speculation on the chances of cloning the species.
Posted 26 July 2007; 12:21:46 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Research / Reports, Siberia / Russia
First human-trafficking case brought in Arctic republic
(PM/RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 11, No. 133, Part I, 23 July 2007) -- Prosecutors in Syktyvkar in the far northern Komi Republic have completed investigations for the republic's first criminal case involving human trafficking, regnum.ru reported on July 23. The case stems from the alleged forcible detention and trafficking of two underaged women by unidentified perpetrators earlier in 2007.
Posted 25 July 2007; 3:29:51 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Crime, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Women, Children and Families
Krasnoyarsk Territory governor to go to the North
(Newslab.ru, 12 July 2007) -- Krasnoyarsk Territory Governor Alexander Khloponin will visit the North of the region. As Alexander Makarov, a press secretary of the governor, reported on July 12. The governor is on a working visit in Moscow now and will be back in Krasnoyarsk on July 14. He intends to take part in the celebration of the Day of Metallurgist, where he will sign an agreement about social and economic cooperation with OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel. After that Khloponin will visit Severo-Yeniseisky District and the northern town of Kodinsk.
Posted 12 July 2007; 1:58:05 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia
New department appeared in Krasnoyarsk Territory administration
(Newslab.ru, 3 July 2007) -- A new department has appeared in the Krasnoyarsk Territory administration. The department of foreign relations and investment policy was formed by the governor's decision, the regional executive office reported Tuesday. The new structure was formed by reorganizing the incumbent organs of executive power: the department of foreign relations and the agency of priority investment projects. According to a source in the regional administration, Deputy-Governor Anatoly Tikhonov, former head of the constant representation of the Krasnoyarsk Territory administration in the Russian Government, was appointed head of the new department. Who will be in charge of the regional representation in Moscow is unknown yet. On July 3 the regulation of Krasnoyarsk Territory Governor Alexander Khloponin about the appointment of his substitutes and the personnel of the Territorial Administration Council came into effect. As Newslab reported earlier, members of the Council: Gov. Khloponin and vice-governors Vasily Kuzubov and Alexander Novak, deputy-governors Edkham Akbulatov, Nikolay Glushkov, Andrei Gnezdilov, Olga Karlova, Sergey Kozachenko, Yuri Konovalov, Sergey Ponomarenko, Sergey Sokol, Anatoly Tikhonov, Anatoly Tuboltsev, Vladimir Shishmarev, and Leonid Shorokhov.
Posted 3 July 2007; 2:19:11 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Autonomy, Governance, Legislation, Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia
(Newslab.ru, 2 July 2007) -- A house collapsed partially in the village of Khatanga, Taimyr's municipal district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Four apartments, 168 square meters in area, were damaged as a result of the collapse of a wall and the corner of the apartment building at 32 Sovetskaya St., the regional agency for civil defense and emergencies reported. Ten residents of the damaged apartments were evacuated and are staying in the hotel of Polar geological and intelligence expedition. Rescuers were on duty round the clock near the house. One more crack was found in the wall of the second entrance at midnight. The rest 30 residents were evacuated with personal documents and belongings and placed in the hotel too. No injured were reported. Financial damage is being estimated. The house was built in the 60s and has been used as a hostel of an air company for more than 30 years. It was reconstructed not long agointo a 16-apartment block, where 40 people lived.
Posted 2 July 2007; 5:11:35 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
Last bodies recovered, Russia mine blast toll at 10
(Reuters AlertNet, 27 June 2007) -- MOSCOW - Rescue workers recovered on Wednesday the bodies of the two missing miners after a methane gas explosion at an Arctic colliery, bringing the final death toll of Monday's accident to 10, the Emergencies Ministry said. "All the dead bodies have now been recovered. The rescue operation is over," said ministry spokesmam Viktor Beltsov. The blast at the Komsomolskaya mine in the town of Vorkuta, some 2,000 km (1,250 miles) northeast of Moscow, was the third major accident since March in Russia's coal industry. A total of 149 miners were killed in two other similar accidents in the Siberian region of Kemerovo. The Komsomolskaya mine is operated by Vorkutaugol, a division of steel industry major Severstal's raw material division, Severstal Resurs.
Posted 27 June 2007; 10:43:59 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Eight dead in Russian gas mine blast
(Reuters via The Australian, 27 June 2007) -- AT least eight miners died on Monday in a methane gas explosion in a coal mine owned by Russian steel maker Severstal in the Arctic town of Vorkuta. Two miners are still missing and a rescue operation is under way, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov and company officials said. “The blast struck at 18:55 Moscow time (14:55 GMT),” Mr Beltsov said. "According to our information, there were a total of 277 miners underground at the Komsomolskaya mine when it happened." He said 263 miners had been safely evacuated to the surface. Four had been taken to hospital, including one who was in a serious condition. “The fate of the three missing ones is unclear.” Methane gas blasts at two coal mines in the Siberian region of Kemerovo killed 149 people earlier this year. The accidents were blamed on safety breaches. The Komsomolskaya mine in Vorkuta mine is operated by Vorkutaugol, a division of Severstal's raw materials division, Severstal Resurs. ... Coal from Vorkuta is supplied to Severstal's main plant in Cherepovets, the second-largest steel plant in Russia, as well as to other Russian steel makers.
Posted 27 June 2007; 4:08:58 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Methane explosion kills at least seven in Arctic mine
(RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 11, No 117, 26 June 2007) -- A methane-gas explosion in the Komsomolskaya coal mine near Vorkuta in the Komi Republic on June 25 left at least seven miners dead and four injured, RIA Novosti reported, citing an unnamed spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry. This is the latest in a series of disasters to hit Russia's coal mines in 2007. Inspectors for the Federal Service for Ecological, Technological, and Atomic Monitoring (Rostekhnadzor) said in Novokuznetsk in Kemerovo Oblast in western Siberia on May 29 that inspections of 58 coal mines in the area turned up 1,842 violations of safety regulations. Some of the violations apparently were carried out deliberately in the interest of securing higher profits and wages. The inspections were launched following the March 19 explosion at the modern Ulyanovsk coal mine, which left 110 miners dead and was the country's worst mining disaster in 60 years. On May 24, a methane-gas explosion at the Yubileynaya mine took 39 lives (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 30, 2007). PM
Posted 27 June 2007; 3:30:21 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Yamal will take part in the Days of the Arctic
(SeverPress, 20 June 2007) -- On the 21st of June the measure “The Days of the Arctic in Moscow”, dedicated to opening of the third International Polar Year of 2007-2008, will take place in the capital of Russia. Representatives of Yamal will take part in the measure: the deputy of the governor of Yamal, the chief of the Department of international and interregional communication Alexander Mazharov, employees of the Department and representatives of the Museum-exhibition complex of Shemanovskiy. The exhibition, dedicated to development of the North, will be opened in the House of Unions. The part of the exposition is prepared by Yamal specialists. In particular, the stand of the Edge of the Earth will tell about history of polar researches and about the project of development of cooperation between Yamal educational establishments and the Arctic University, as the press-service of the governor of Yamal informs. By the initiative of Russia since the first of March of 2007 the third International Polar Year is the global project with participation of several thousand of scientists, presenting more than 30 countries of the world. The given project is directed to defining of current changes and evaluation of future changes of climate of the Earth. The International Polar Year as the full-scale experiment, the aim of which is forming of practical recommendations on stable social-economic development of polar regions, is of big interest for the Okrug. [Title link is to an archived copy of this non-static news page.]
Posted 20 June 2007; 6:39:22 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, IPY, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues
363 forest fires registered in Krasnoyarsk Territory this year
(Newslab.Ru - Siberia News, 13 June 2007) -- Six forest fires have broken out in the Krasnoyarsk Territory over the last 24 hours. Four of them have been put out, two have been localized, as the regional forestry agency reported. Two helicopters and two planes were involved in the fire extinguishing. 363 forest fires, 14,589 hectares in area, have been registered in the Krasnoyarsk Territory since the beginning of 2007, the forestry agency informed. For reference, 343 fires, 19,919 hectares in area, had been registered for the same period in 2006.
Posted 13 June 2007; 7:22:03 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Resource Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Salekhard central library celebrates 75th anniversary
(Sever-Press, 31 May 2007) -- Librarians of Yamal are marking the 75th anniversary of library servicing of population of the town Salekhard on the 31st of May. By the information given in the interview to the correspondent of IA “Sever-Press” by the chief of the Central library Natalia Kaneva, the basis of the fond [collection] of the Central library is the books of Yamal enlightener Ffather Irinarkh (Ivan Shemanovskiy). The official opening of the town library took place in 1932. Since last year the Central library has headed the Central library community of the town Salekhard and serves about 5 thousand readers. Today it is a storage place of unique funds of local lore, leisure and informational establishment with the library fund of more than 60 thousand books. Besides servicing departments there are departments of completing and processing of literature, the department of local lore, reference-bibliography, methodic and information-editorial departments. The following centers and clubs work in the library: the Center of legislation information, the Center of ecology and local lore, clubs on interests “The local lore scientist”, “Inspiration” and “The young family”. The library is a participant of the regional programs: “Culture of Yamal”, “Children of Yamal” and “The youth of Yamal”. Within these regional projects, librarians take part in the Yearly International conference in Crimea, the International congress of IFLA in Seoul (South Korea), and also in professional library measurements in France. Specialists mount projects to promote reading, conduct sociologic research, contests and presentations of literature works of art. [The source page changes daily; this item is linked to a permanently archived copy.]
Posted 2 June 2007; 1:05:19 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Cultural Matters, Education and Civil Society, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Arctic port at heart of Norilsk’s empire
(Robin Paxton/Reuters, 28 May 2007)** -- DUDINKA, Krasnoyarsk Region — Every spring, the cranes in this Arctic port are shifted several hundred meters away from the banks of the Yenisei River. With good reason. The river rises 8 meters when it thaws, tossing chunks of ice into anything blocking its path. Annual repairs cost more than $1 million. Dudinka, 320 kilometers inside the Arctic Circle, is the gateway to Russia’s ice-bound northern shipping lanes, taking metals from the heart of Siberia up the Yenisei to the Arctic Ocean, and from there to destinations all over the world. “And it’s probably the only port in the world where the cranes have to be moved every year,” said Nikolai Kostetsky, head of administration at the port. About 4.5 million tons of goods pass through the port every year, mostly from the smelters of Norilsk Nickel, which supplies one-fifth of the world’s nickel and more than half its palladium. Norilsk, which owns the port, is building five $110 million ships. The first was launched last year and the last will be ready by 2009. A settlement has existed at Dudinka for 340 years, but its modern existence began in 1935. Among the first arrivals were 1,000 political prisoners exiled to Russia’s frozen north by Stalin to exploit mineral resources and build a smelter in Norilsk, 80 kilometers to the east.
Posted 28 May 2007; 11:38:50 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar History, Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
Floods in Siberia and Far East force 3,000 from homes
(RIA Novosti, 28 May 2007) -- MOSCOW, May 28 (RIA Novosti) - Flooding in Siberian and Far East regions have forced more than 3000 people to leave their homes, a local emergency service spokesman said Monday. "Thirteen residential areas in Siberia and the Far East are still affected by flooding - 1,116 homes with a population of almost 4,000 residents, and 3,167 people have been evacuated," the spokesman said. In one village in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), almost 900 houses had been flooded forcing over 2,500 people to leave their homes. More than 1,500 people are involved in spring flood relief in Yakutia, and 16 metric tons of foodstuffs, medicine and drinking water has been delivered to the villagers. Those residents who chose to stay in their homes are receiving supplies by boat.
Posted 28 May 2007; 6:16:14 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Environment and Landscape, Far East / Russia, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Opinion: Russia's Northern Sea Route: Just a dotted line on the map?
(Maxim Krans, political commentator/RIA Novosti, 23 May 2007) -- MOSCOW - Debates over the Northern Sea Route, a shipping lane from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the coast of northern Russia, have been going on for many years. Local residents are sounding the alarm, scientists and journalists are crossing swords, and even MPs are worried about this problem, unable to take a nap in their comfy chairs. Russia's State Council, an advisory body consisting of the country's regional leaders, and the Sea College discussed it again at their May meeting in Murmansk. Will this standstill be overcome at long last? ... Deprived of government support, the once powerful ice-breaking fleet lost its glory. Out of eight nuclear-powered ships, five have passed their service life. The last ship, 50th Anniversary of Victory, which was shown with pride to President Vladimir Putin in May, was built in 1989. In several years, it will be the only one left. Academician Alexander Granberg, who has taken part in many high-altitude expeditions, said on this score: "The entire infrastructure of the Northern Sea Route, including polar aviation, ice surveying, communications, and meteorological and hydrographic services, is in a state of a crisis caused both by economic factors and the short-sighted policy of the government. If we do not start immediately reviving the Arctic transportation system, voyages on the Northern Sea Route will be led by the Japanese or the Americans." This scenario is quite plausible. Many countries have staked their claims to this transportation artery. The American Council at the UN University called the Arctic a potential breeding ground for international conflicts.
Posted 27 May 2007; 7:39:39 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Economic and Commerce Issues, Far East / Russia, Northwest / Russia, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
Fisherman's Day to last for 1 month on Taimyr
(Newslab.ru, 25 May 2007) -- The Fisherman's Day will be celebrated on Taimyr for a month. As Taimyr District Duma reported, the holiday would be celebrated in 18 villages of the district. The festive program will consist of rowing competitions by national wooden boats, contests for the quickest fishing net mending, the biggest catch, the biggest fish. Women will compete in fish cutting for yukolas (yukola – dried fish made in the North and Far East) by national recipes. Taimyr best fishermen will be awarded for the results of their work in 2006. There are 18 motor boats "Vikhr-30" among the prizes granted as part of the municipal special purpose program "Taimyr Peoples". A total of $30,000 has been allocated from the municipal budget on the celebration of the Fisherman's Day by Taimyr deputies. Norilsk Nickel is known to sponsor the holiday. Citizens of Taimyr villages will get sewing-machines, tents, sleeping-bags, liquid fuel stoves, special warm suits and kitchen utensils as presents.
Posted 26 May 2007; 9:25:23 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Indigenous Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Sports and Games
There will be three vice-speakers in new Legislative Assembly of Krasnoyarsk Territory
(Newslab.ru, 14 May 2007) -- The number of vice-speakers of the new Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk territory must be increased to three. Newly elected speaker of the Legislative Assembly Alexander Uss announced it to reporters on May 14. "Practice makes us do so," he said, "Apart from substitution and ensuring efficient work of the Legislative Assembly in any situation, each substitute will coordinate the work of a block of committees. As a rule, three blocks of committees are formed: economic, social, power & management. Deputies will consider this number of vice-speakers." Uss stressed, "None of the substitutes will be free. All of them will be chairmen of committees." As Newslab informed earlier, there will be no more regular deputy commissions. At the first session the deputies approved of 10 committees: on budget and tax policy, economic policy, rural affairs and agricultural policy, natural resources and ecology, state construction, local self-government and the development of institutes of civil society, northern affairs and small indigenous peoples, legacy and protection of people's rights, social policy, healthcare, sport & tourism, education, science & culture.
Posted 15 May 2007; 3:55:46 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Autonomy, Governance, Legislation, Circumpolar News, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Alexander Khloponin: New industrialization of Siberia has started today
(Newslab.ru, 15 May 2007) -- A new stage of industrialization has started in Siberia today, on May 15, Krasnoyarsk Territory Governor Alexander Khloponin stated at the stowing of the first stone at the building site of Boguchany power plant. "A new stage of industrialization has started in Siberia and in the whole country after it today," Khloponin said. The ceremony was attended by Anatoly Chubays, President of Russian Joint-Stock Company "Unified Energy System of Russia" (RJSC UES), Russian Aluminum Director General Alexander Bulygin, and head of Boguchansky District administration Alexander Bakhtin. To the applause of representatives of these companies, big banks, the Government of the Russian Federation, officials of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region they fixed a tablet bearing the date on the stone. "We used to buy and sell existing enterprises in Russia. And now we start to build at last, and it is a big plant in fact. Literally, it is a new stage in the development of Russian business," Anatoly Chubays supported Krasnoyarsk governor.
Posted 15 May 2007; 3:42:01 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Alternative Energy / Climate Change Responses, Circumpolar News, Economic and Commerce Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
First session of new Legislative Assembly of Krasnoyarsk Territory opened
(Newslab.ru, 14 May 2007) -- The new Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory has started its work. The first session opened in the new building erected for it specially. There are 15 issues on the agenda. All the 52 deputies are present. As the speaker is to be elected by the deputies, the session was opened by the oldest elected deputy Valentin Kozachenko who had been elected by Rybinsky District single-mandate No. 16. Krasnoyarsk Territory Governor Alexander Khloponin, first speaker of the Legislative Assembly Stanislav Yermachenko, Krasnoyarsk Territory police chief Alexander Gorovoy, chief federal inspector Nikolay Khudykh and representative of federal power attended the session as high officials. The deputies are to elect the speaker, his deputies, appoint heads of committees and settle some points in the formation of the Legislative Assembly departments. The deputies will consider the following bills: "About the number of deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory working on the regular basis and the order of substitution of the respective positions", "About the status of a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory", "About the number of deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory working on a regular professional basis (not more than 36 people)".
Posted 14 May 2007; 5:32:44 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Autonomy, Governance, Legislation, Circumpolar News, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Yuriy Neyolov: “Yamal people contributed much to the common Victory over the enemy”
(Sever Press, 8 May 2007) -- The governor of Yamal Yuriy Neyolov congratulated inhabitants of the Okrug with the Victory Day – with the holiday, which is close to each of us. "The 9th of May takes the special place in the heroic chronicle of the country, as the example of the strong will of the people in the struggle for freedom and independence of the country," as it is said in the congratulation. "Years are passing, generations are changing, but this day will eternally stay the symbol of national pride, military glory and valour." The head of the region underlined: "Yamal people in much contributed to the common Victory over the enemy. Thousands of our countrymen went to the battle-front, worked in the home front, made the Victory closer as they could. Women, children and old people of Yamal North worked in fishermen, deer herding and animal breeding brigades during the war and after-war devastate. "Much is being done in Yamal to surround veterans and participants of the Great Patriotic War with care and attention. This is our sacred duty. We must keep and continue great traditions of unity, courage, strength of mind, will to victory and to prove that our life is worthy of the winners," as Yuriy Neyolov marked. The Governor wished peace, goodness and well-being to veterans. The plenipotentiary of the President of Russian Federation in Ural Federal Okrug Pyotr Latyshev, the chief federal inspector in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Vladimir Kovalchouk, and the chairman of the State Duma of Yamal Sergey Kharyuchi congratulated veterans, workers of home front and participants of the Great Patriotic War with the Victory Day. They wished good health, peaceful sky above the head and well being to all the veterans.
Posted 13 May 2007; 12:53:29 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar History, Circumpolar News, Russia, Siberia / Russia
(IA Sever-Press, 2 May 2007) -- Yamal Region - The museum resource center of Noyabrsk received the grand-prix on the second regional festival of museum projects “The museum dimension: the northern format”, which finished in the town Salekhard. The center became the leader among 19 museums of Yamal. By the information given to IA “Sever-Press” in the administration of the town Noyabrsk, the museum center presented four projects of the festival. Thus, the ethnographic project “The white bird” received the special prize from “The Hermitage”. Besides, the diploma of the first degree in the nomination “The museum is the territory of the young” was given to the Children’s museum for the presentation of the educational project “The past of Yamal land”. The same award, but in the nomination “The master of the experiment” was given to the Museum of fine arts for the project “Being turned to the victory”. The delegation of the museum resource center came back from the festival with prizes – the computer and the note-book, and also with the collection of media production from “The Hermitage”.
Posted 3 May 2007; 2:18:31 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Cultural Matters, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Rescuers: Spring flooding crisis 2007 is over in Krasnoyarsk Territory
(Newslab.ru, 2 May 2007) -- Spring flooding crisis 2007 is over, Andrei Volsky, chief of civil protection department of the Krasnoyarsk Territory emergency service, stated with the reference to the Bureau of Meteorology at the meeting with reporters on May 2. Volsky said that flooding situation that was especially critical in the northern districts was normal as for Wednesday morning. Water decreased on the Yenisei near the village of Yartsevo, Yeniseisky District, and the village of Borogovo, Turukhansky District. Water level is 1,207 cm and 1,173 cm there respectively. Volsky reported no houses had been flooded in the two villages. Operative groups of specialists have been keeping the situation under control since April 27. "The spring flooding crisis is over," Volsky noted, "However, the Angara River's opening is forthcoming, which may cause water level increase in the Yenisei." As Newslab reported earlier, water had started rising near the village of Vorogovo on May 1. Blasting operations were carried out in the morning. Ice floating started on Wednesday night, which caused water level to rise abruptly to 1,272 cm and exceed the mark of 1,298 cm by 6:00 am. Vorogovo village was cleared up of residents.
Posted 2 May 2007; 5:02:13 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Village of Vorogovo evacuated because of flooding, Krasnoyarsk Territory
(Newslab.ru, 2 May 2007) -- Water level in the Yenisei River has almost reached a critical mark near the village of Vorogovo. Local citizens have been evacuated, Krasnoyarsk Territory Department of Ministry for Emergencies reported. Water rose on the Yenisei near the village of Vorogovo, Turukhansky District, on May 1. Blasting operations were carried out Tuesday morning. Ice drifting started Wednesday night, and water rose to 1,272 cm, reaching the mark of 1,298 cm by 6:00 am, which is next to a critical mark (1,330 cm). Citizens of Vorogovo were evacuated to higher places. No injured were reported. Due to the start of ice floating water level decreased to 1,339 cm near the village of Yartsevo, Yeniseisky District. In case of emergency, children, old and ill people will be evacuated first of all. Helicopters and boats will be involved in rescuing people. The population has been informed of the risk of flooding. As Newslab reported earlier, an operative group of rescuers has been observing the flooding situation since April 27.
Posted 2 May 2007; 5:00:26 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Environment and Landscape, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Russia's Arctic miners seek share of metals wealth
(Robin Paxton/Reuters via Sign on San Diego, 18 April 2007) -- TALNAKH, Russia – Half a kilometre beneath the frozen tundra, Alexander Borodai chips a sparkling rock from the wall. Never before has the ore been so valuable, as demand from China pushes up prices for the 14 different metals it contains. “Nickel is practically a precious metal now,” said Borodai, the 55-year-old chief engineer of the Komsomolsky mine. Miners here work 7-hour shifts in an underground complex bigger than the entire Moscow Metro system. Once a day, ore is blasted from the rock-face before being collected by trucks and hoisted to the surface. Talnakh, population nearly 60,000, was founded in 1966 when the first ore was mined at Mayak – meaning lighthouse – a mine that is still working. The ore from Talnakh feeds metals smelters in Norilsk, the first of which were built by Gulag prisoners in the 1930s. Miners here no longer command the relatively high salaries of Soviet times for living where temperatures drop to 50 degrees Celsius below zero. They have just received their first wage rise in six years as their employer, Norilsk Nickel, tries to stem an exodus of skilled workers.
Posted 20 April 2007; 11:47:23 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Rights and entitlements, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues
Arctic port at heart of Norilsk's empire
(Robin Paxton/Reuters via Moscow Times, 19 April 2007)** -- (Robin Paxton/Reuters via Moscow Times, 19 April 2007) -- DUDINKA, Krasnoyarsk Region - Every spring, the cranes in this Arctic port are shifted several hundred meters away from the banks of the Yenisei River. With good reason. The river rises 8 meters when it thaws, tossing chunks of ice into anything blocking its path. Annual repairs cost more than $1 million. Dudinka, 320 kilometers inside the Arctic Circle, is the gateway to Russia's ice-bound northern shipping lanes, taking metals from the heart of Siberia up the Yenisei to the Arctic Ocean, and from there to destinations all over the world. "And it's probably the only port in the world where the cranes have to be moved every year," said Nikolai Kostetsky, head of administration at the port. About 4.5 million tons of goods pass through the port every year, mostly from the smelters of Norilsk Nickel, which supplies one-fifth of the world's nickel and more than half its palladium.
Posted 19 April 2007; 3:04:53 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
Opinion: Russia set to overhaul its Arctic fleet
(Yury Zaitsev/RIA Novosti, 9 April 2007)** -- MOSCOW - A new Russian icebreaker will navigate the Northern Sea Route, linking Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula with Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, as early as this spring. Though it may be a mere coincidence, on March 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree establishing the United Shipbuilding Corporation, a government-sponsored project combining state financial assets in the shipbuilding sector, and the next day, on March 23, the world's largest nuclear icebreaker, 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory), joined the Russian merchant fleet. The icebreaker, initially launched as the nuclear ship Ural in 1989, was commissioned at the Baltiisky Zavod (Baltic Shipyard) in St. Petersburg and set sail for Murmansk on April 2. An upgraded version of the Arktika-class icebreaker, the 159-meter (522-foot) long and 30-meter (100-foot) wide vessel, with a displacement of 25,000 metric tons, is designed to break through ice up to 2.8 meters (9.2 feet) deep and has a 138-man crew. Russia is the only country to operate civilian nuclear-powered icebreakers in the Arctic, and it has been doing so for over 40 years. The first reactor for the Lenin icebreaker was developed in 1954-1956, and the ship itself entered service in 1959. Seven more icebreakers and an ocean-going cargo icebreaker were built in 1975-1992. However, the Lenin icebreaker and the Sibir, the first second-generation icebreaker, were decommissioned in 1989 and 1993, respectively. Subsequent repairs, which made it possible to extend the Arktika icebreaker's service life, may also help reactivate the Sibir. Nevertheless, the government must start building new icebreakers soon because all those currently in service will probably be scrapped between 2012 and 2015.
Posted 13 April 2007; 11:55:31 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Arctic Ocean, Circumpolar News, Northwest / Russia, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
First houses flooded in Krasnoyarsk Territory
(Newslab.ru, 12 April 2007) -- A few houses have been flooded in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Water rose due to warm weather and abundant melting of snow in the Urka River in Kansky District on April 10, the emergencies services reported. As a result, 12 wooden houses were flooded in the village of Filimonovo. 15 people were evacuated, there were no injured. An icejam was caused by the water rise in the Kyzyr River in Kuragino District due to warm weather and snow melting on April 11. A private house and gardens of five houses were flooded, two people were evacuated. No people were injured. It is worth reminding ice drift has started on many rivers of the Territory.
Posted 12 April 2007; 11:13:50 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Communities, Environment and Landscape, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Spring flooding starts in Krasnoyarsk Territory
(Newslab.ru, 5 April 2007) -- Spring flooding season started in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Rescuers warned Wednesday about possible flooding. Snow will be melting intensively, and small rivers will begin to overflow April, 6-9, when it will get very warm: from +13° to +18°, the Krasnoyarsk Territory emergency service reported. Lowlands and houses may be flooded, roads may be washed out. Dams and small water reservoirs may be flooded too. There is a high risk of flooding in 14 districts of the Krasnoyarsk Territory: Bogotolsky, Tyukhtetsky, Nazarovo, Balakhtinsky, Uyarsky, Rybinsky, Irbeysky, Partizansky, Mansky, Boguchansky, Taseyevsky, Abansky, Dzerzhinsky, and Kuragino Districts.
Posted 6 April 2007; 1:57:52 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Environment and Landscape, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Norilsk Nickel to open its own university
(Newslab.ru, 5 April 2007) -- OJSC Mining and Metallurgical Company (MMC) Norilsk Nickel will open its own university. The staff and the material resources of Corporate Training Center of the staff department of the company's central hedquarters of Polar Division will become a private high school "The Corporate University of Norilsk Nickel", the company's press service reported. The new university will function as the head scientific and methodological staff training center that will also study the needs of Norilsk Nickel Group of labor resources. The Corporate University President Veniamin Kaganov said Norilsk Nickel high school has got a wide range of educational licenses and is founded in accordance with the federal law "About education". "A university must offer a higher level of education and traditional training courses. We already have got special educational programs and will be working at more to comply with the university status. In addition, we are going to attract top experts of the company and the best teachers from other universities," he said. Kaganov noted that the Corporate University would render educational services to other companies in the future and sets a task to become one of CIS best corporate educational establishments. At present there are about 6,000 educational programmes in MMC Norilsk Nickel. Specialists are trained for 300 professions. More than 30,000 workers of Norilsk Nickel took different courses in the corporate training center in 2006.
Posted 6 April 2007; 1:50:44 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Education and Civil Society, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Shoygu: Siberia is ready for flooding
(Newslab.ru, 2 April 2007) -- Siberian Federal District is ready for flooding, Minister of Emergencies of Russia Sergey Shoygu announced March 31 during his work visit to Krasnoyarsk. After a telephone conference with heads of regional emergency services and a checkup of rescuing and emergency service equipment on the Yenisei embankment the minister told reporters the special services had taken all the preventive actions. The personal and the machinery are ready for the flooding. "I was pleased that all the Siberian regions have formed quite serious resources, both material and financial, to cope with the spring flooding," he stated. This spring icejams are forecast on many rivers. This winter has been warm, with fluctuations in temperature. Ice was melting on the rivers and freezing again, forming natural ice dams. To clear icejams if required, blasting operations will be held. Experts will be sent to the districts to apply new equipment and machinery for ice blasting. There are icejams in some regions now, but Shoygu stressed the Lena River among them. "It is the only thing we are worried about," Shoygu stressed. The minister noted that more than 200,000 people, and 60,000-64,000 machinery unites, along with 37,000 boats were usually involved to ensure safety during spring flooding across Russia.
Posted 2 April 2007; 2:36:26 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Krasnoyarsk Territory and Canada to launch cross-Polar flights
(Newslab.ru, 29 March 2007) -- The Krasnoyarsk Territory and Canada will launch cross-Polar flights, as was agreed at the meeting of Deputy Governor Anatoly Tikhonov and Ron Lemieux, Infrastructure and Transportation Minister of Manitoba, a Canadian province. The deputy-governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, who is also head of the constant representation of the Territory Council in the Russian Government, arrived in Canada with a Russian delegation headed by Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev. The visit of Russian delegation to Canada is a part of the Sixth Session of Russian-Canadian intergovernmental economic mission, the representation reported. Anatoly Tikhonov is co-chairman of the work group on transportation of the commission. The aim of the meeting with Ron Lemieux is to develop contacts and strengthen mutual understanding between the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Manitoba Province on the basis of launching regular cross-polar flights between the towns of Krasnoyarsk and Winnipeg, Canada. The parties agreed upon activation of further cooperation on the launching of the cross-polar flights between Krasnoyarsk and Winnipeg and signed a memorandum. "By signing a memorandum with the province of Manitoba we have got a reliable and progressive business partner. Cooperation with Canada will help us to develop transportation and navigation, which is important for the Territory," Tikhonov said.
Posted 2 April 2007; 1:58:01 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Canada, Circumpolar News, International, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
Ice crossings may be closed down early in Krasnoyarsk Territory
(Newslab.ru, 28 March 2007) -- Due to a warm spring ice crossings may be closed down earlier than usual in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Agency for Civil Defense and Emergencies of the Territory reported. Ice crossings are usually closed down in mid-April. However, in connection with the forecast of warm weather they may be closed down a week earlier. The decision to close ice crossings down is made by municipal authorities, who keep the state of the ice under control in compliance with the requirements. 98 ice crossings are open in the Krasnoyarsk Territory now: 5 in Yeniseisky District, 1 in Bolsheuluysky District, 1 in Turukhansky District, 3 in Boguchany District, 3 in Motyginsky District, 3 in Birilyussky District, 1 in Yermakovsky District, 2 in Bogotolsky District, 1 in Novoselovsky District, 1 in Karatuzsky District, 2 on Taimyr and 75 in Evenkia. 15 winter car roads function in the region: 1 in Severo-Yeniseysky District, 1 in Yeniseysky District, 2 in Motyginsky District, and 11 in Evenkia. As Newslab reported earlier, meteorology services forecast a warm spring and summer in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Posted 28 March 2007; 3:27:08 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Communities, Environment and Landscape, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
Masterpieces by Russian artists of XVIII-XX centuries are in the town on the Polar Circle
(Sever Press IA, 19 March 2007) -- Opening of the exhibition of the Russian Museum “Three centuries of Russian art” took place in the town Salekhard in the Museum-exhibition complex under Shemanovskiy name. The director of the Russian museum Vladimir Gusev and representatives of the company “NOVATEK” arrived in connection with such a significant event. The company is the main sponsor of the Russian Museum in Salekhard. 65 masterpieces of Russian fine art of XVIII-XX centuries are presented on the exhibition, what will give the opportunity to enlighten basic processes, having place in the fine art in Russia during three centuries. Visitors will be able to see pictures of outstanding Russian artists. The exhibition “Three centuries of Russian art” is conducted in the frames of the long-term program “Russia”, which is conducted in the frames of the agreement between the Ministry for culture of Russian Federation and the State Russian Museum. For the present day the program “Russia” has covered more than 20 towns and aroused big interest to the national fine art in the whole country. By the information of the press-service of the governor of Yamal the exhibition has already taken place in other towns of Russia before Yamal.
Posted 20 March 2007; 10:07:35 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Arts and Artists, Circumpolar News, Cultural Matters, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Former Taimyr head Oleg Budargin may be appointed Kamchatka governor
(Newslab.ru, 14 March 2007) -- Oleg Budargin, former Taimyr head, may be appointed new governor of the Kamchatka Region instead pf Mikhail Mashkovets, who said on March 14 he would be working for the presidential executive office, Kommersant newspaper reported. Budargin's appointment acting Kamchatka Governor will be announced in the nearest future, the newspaper informed citing a source in the Kamchatka Region administration. As Newslab reported earlier, Budargin had been the Taimyr Autonomous Area governor until January 1, 2007. After Taimyr and Evenkia were comprised by the newly formed unified Krasnoyarsk Territory Budargin resigned. Budargin and former Evenkia head Boris Zolotarev are now working for the presidential envoy in Siberian Federal District. It is not ruled out that Budargin may become the governor of the Kamchatka Territory that would appear on the map of the Russian Federation on July 1, 2007. The decision to unite the Kamchatka Region and the Koryak Autonomous Area was made at the referendum in autumn 2005. Mikhail Mashkovets resigned to become an aide of the presidential executive office chief and will be in charge of regional policy.
Posted 15 March 2007; 2:25:19 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Autonomy, Governance, Legislation, Circumpolar News, Far East / Russia, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Heavy frost expected in Krasnoyarsk Territory
(Newslab.ru, 19 February 2007) -- Heavy frost is expected in Evenkia, Taimyr and Turukhansky District of the Krasnoyarsk Territory this week. Monday, February 19 is forecast to be extremely frosty, with the lows -40 -45° С reaching -52° С in the areas. These districts have been sustaining severe frost for a week. In Krasnoyarsk this week will be very cold too, high -17 -19° С, low -29 -31° С. It will be -41° С on Thursday, February 22. Today it is 25 degrees below zero in Krasnoyarsk.
Posted 19 February 2007; 12:16:07 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Russia, Siberia / Russia
Is Russia pressuring BP into sell-out?
(PM/RFE/RL Newsline, 12 February 2007) -- The British daily Financial Times wrote on February 10 that "BP's Russian venture TNK-BP suffered a blow [recently] when Moscow confirmed the oil major is in violation of terms to develop the vast east Siberian Kovykta field." The paper quoted unnamed officials of the Federal Agency for the Use of Natural Resources (Rosnedra) as saying that it has "given the joint venture between BP and Russia's Tyumen Oil three months to fix the [unspecified] violations. The setback comes two months after Royal Dutch Shell [and its two Japanese partners were] force to cede control of [their] Sakhalin-2 venture to state-controlled Gazprom." The paper noted that "Gazprom has long been eyeing a stake in Kovykta .... The mounting pressure over Kovykta is seen by many as part of a broader state plan to gain control of TNK-BP itself." Britain's The Daily Telegraph on December 22 quoted Anatoly Ledovskikh, who heads Rosnedra, as saying that "I very much hope that TNK-BP and Gazprom reach an agreement. They have no choice" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," September 20 and 25, and December 22, 2006).
Posted 12 February 2007; 1:16:23 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, Siberia / Russia
Authorities plan to reduce Igarka population by 30% (Photo)
(Newslab.ru, ) -- There must be not more than 5,500 citizens left in the town of Igarka, local authorities believe. Igarka Deputy-Mayor Lyubov Seredkina said "this is the optimum population for the town". After the completion of the resettlement programs, it is planned to leave two inhabited blocks in the town, which will reduce the town area by 30% and will help to lower costs for thermal and water supply, housing communal services and transportation. At present the length of the town along the Yenisei River is about 40 km. There must be not more than 5,500 citizens left in the town of Igarka, local authorities believe. Igarka Deputy-Mayor Lyubov Seredkina said "this is the optimum population for the town". After the completion of the resettlement programs, it is planned to leave two inhabited blocks in the town, which will reduce the town area by 30% and will help to lower costs for thermal and water supply, housing communal services and transportation. At present the length of the town along the Yenisei River is about 40 km. The town officials intend to liquidate the old (island) part of the town, where 100 families live now. About 20 people work in the airport situated on the island, the rest are retired and unemployed people, who will be either resettled to the precincts of the town or to the continent. "The island part of the town will be freed by 2008," Seredkina said, "The accommodation fund, mostly dilapidated and in an emergency state, will be demolished, and the land will be reclamated." 36 apartment buildings have been demolished, more than 200 families have been resettled for two years in the old district of Igarka. The improvement of life in Igarka is connected with the fact that the town will become a basis for oil and gas industry in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The population of Igarka is 7,700 people now. 558 of them are officially registered as unemployed. According to the regional resettlement goal program for 2005-2007, it is planned to remove 332 families in 2007. $6 m has been allocated from the regional budget for the town residents to purchase accommodation on the continent. 316 families were resettled as part of the regional goal program in 2005-2006, with a sum of $8.3 m allocated.
Posted 11 February 2007; 6:48:01 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues, Transportation, Infrastructure and Construction
Representatives of indigenous peoples of Yamal most concerned about housing
(Sever-Press, 31 January 2007) -- About 400 messages were received last year in the Department on affairs of the North ethnic minorities of Yamal. This is on10% more in comparison to the previous year. More than 80% of messages are in verbal form. By the information given to the correspondent of IA “Sever-Press” by the specialist of the Department Oleg Syugney, the biggest number of messages of indigenous peoples of the North – 30% - is about housing and social problems: assistance in improvement of housing conditions, allocation of subsidies and repairs. Questions of rendering lump-sum material help is reflected in 20% of messages. In their requests, applications and letters inhabitants of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug raise questions of qualitative rendering of medical help in the country-side, including to tundra population. There are questions about realization of regional laws, about 6% - in the sphere of development of agro-industrial complex and more than 25% - in the sphere of education and health protection. If in 2005 the basic amount of messages touched upon the housing sphere, material help and questions of education, then last year their themes became more diverse. Messages on labor legislation and questions of employment appeared.
Posted 3 February 2007; 1:57:14 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Indigenous Issues, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues
Earthquake shakes Krasnoyarsk Territory
(Newlab.ru, 1 February 2007) -- An earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale hit Balakhta District, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, February 1, Siberian regional center of civil defense, emergencies and natural disasters reported. The seismic activity was registered twenty kilometers North-West from the village of Balakhta at 10.17 pm. The earthquake epicenter was in taiga area, so the quake could not be felt much by local residents. No victims or damage have been reported.
Posted 2 February 2007; 1:01:17 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
There are 2,109,600 voters in unified Krasnoyarsk Territory
(Newslab.ru, 30 January 2007) -- There are 2,109,600 registered voters in the unified Krasnoyarsk Territory, as for early 2007, the regional election commission reported. The largest number of voters lives in Krasnoyarsk – 686,458 people. As far as other Krasnoyarsk Territory towns are concerned, most of voters live Norilsk – 146,662 people. There are 86,278 voters in Achinsk, 80,792 in Zheleznogorsk, 67,059 in Kansk, 55,516 in Zelenogorsk, 52,971 in Lesosibirsk, 51,274 in Minusinsk, 40,100 in Nazarovo, 34,368 in Sharypovo, 25,388 in Divnogorsk, 23,454 in Sosnovoborsk, 17,885 in Bogotol, 15,479 in Yeniseisk, 15,120 in Borodino and 8,755 in Zaozerny. Three largest districts in the number of voters are: Kuragino District (36,080 voters), Boguchany District (29,050) and Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) municipal district (28,414). Evenkia municipal district with its 11,714 goes 31st. The least number of voters lives in Tyukhtet District – 7,389 people, Bolsheuluysky District – 6,342, and Pirovsky District – 6,332 people.
Posted 30 January 2007; 1:19:33 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues
Nganasan girl monument to be erected in Dudinka
(Newslab.ru, 26 January 2007) -- Dudinka Mayor Alexei Dyachenko plans to erect little sculptures in the town at the meeting with creative intelligentsia, architects and specialists in town planning, and Taimyr Regional Museum workers. The theme of discussion was the erection of small architectural forms, town sculptures in Dudinka. It was decided to erect a few sculptures in the streets, where town citizens prefer to have rest. The project is devoted to the upcoming 340th anniversary of Dudinka. The creative group intends to design the sculptures to reflect the historical and cultural traditions of the town. The Embankment Square will be decorated with the monument of a Nganasan girl of a legend. Animal sculptures will be installed in the town center.
Posted 26 January 2007; 9:10:25 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Arts and Artists, Circumpolar News, Communities, Russia, Siberia / Russia, Social Issues
Water level keeps rising in Yeniseisk
(Newslab.ru, 18 January 2007) -- The water level in the Yenisei River is constantly increasing near the town of Yeniseisk, the Krasnoyarsk Territory due to anomalously warm weather. The water level was 1000 cm at 6.00 am on January 18, just one meter below the critical mark. Water rose by 6 cm by 10.00 am, the Krasnoyarsk Territory Agency for Civil Defense and Emergencies reported. The edge of ice is 11 km lower downstream than usual. It is worth reminding that the dangerous water level in this area is 930 cm, and the critical mark is 1100 cm. No flooding is reported. However, water partially flooded the road to the shipyard in Vaneyeva Street. This does not affect the life support of the town, as there is a detour road. The situation is under control of local authorities, the regional Agency for Civil Defense and Emergencies and Siberian regional center of Russia's Ministry for Emergencies. The town emergency services were put on alert Wednesday. 70 people and 10 machinery units are being employed in the works. The regional authorities are to hold a meeting January 18 to render financial assistance by the Krasnoyarsk Territory budget, Siberian regional center of Russia's Ministry for Emergencies informed.
Posted 18 January 2007; 6:03:39 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Climate Change and Weather, Natural Disasters and Emergencies, Russia, Siberia / Russia
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