Prospects for the Development of the Kola Chemical Technological Cluster in Transition from a Resource-Based Economy to an Innovative Economy

Abstract

Murmansk oblast has large resources of polymineral raw materials at deposits that are currently in operation, as well as at future sites, and a developed network of mining enterprises. Mineral concentrates are the main products of national and international companies in the region. Technologies for processing raw materials are being developed and tested at the Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Sciences. For these reasons, the Kola Chemical Technological Cluster was established to improve and finalize processes and the upcoming development of production of functional materials, many of which can be regarded as indices of the state of industry determining national economic and defense security. The new geopolitical situation requires the national production of strategic materials for domestic needs and constituting a reserve to ensure national technological security and economic independence. The Center for Synthesis of New Functional Materials was founded as the first step toward the implementation of the idea of the Kola Chemical Technological Cluster. Additional possibilities can be found by more efficiently using the potential of the existing pilot plants of the Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, and mining and processing enterprises of the region—AO Apatit, AO Kol’skaya GMK, and AO Kovdorskii GOK.