Arctic Regions Of Russia Research Articles

Epidemiological features of hepatitis B in the Russian Arctic

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B is an urgent medical and social problem in Russia.
 AIM: To determine the epidemiological features of the hepatitis B in the Russian Arctic.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: We carried out a retrospective analysis of the incidence of hepatitis B (acute and chronic forms) in 9 Russian Arctic regions, 3 subarctic regions (Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, Magadan Region, Kamchatka Territory) and Russian Federation in 19992019. We also studied the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B and vaccination data against hepatitis B in these territories.
 RESULTS: From 1999 to 2019 the incidence of acute hepatitis B in three subarctic regions decreased 166 times (from 66.5 to 0.4 per 100 thousand population), in the Arctic zone of 74.5 times (from 29.8 to 0.4 per 100 thousand population) and 73 times in Russia (from 43.8 to 0.6). The incidence of chronic hepatitis forms in the same period in the Arctic zone decreased by 8.6 times (from 140.1 to 16.3), 5.8 times in the subarctic regions (from 116.6 to 20.0) and 5.7 times in Russia (from 96.3 to 16.8). In 2018, the results of the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B in the Arctic zone (697.3) was higher than in Russia by 98% (352.1) and higher in the subarctic regions by 67% (588.6). Timely coverage of hepatitis vaccination in children aged 12 months in the Russian Federation, the Arctic zone and the subarctic regions is maintained at a high level (more than 90%) from 2004 in 2019. Coverage of children by vaccination to 17 years inclusive and adults up to 35 years on these territories also exceeded 90%.
 CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination against hepatitis B in the Russian Federation led to a significant decrease in the incidence of this infection in the Russian Arctic. High prevalence of infection indicates the need to continue the program of mass vaccination and the timely introduction of the first dose of vaccine newborns. To reduce the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer, it is necessary to increase the availability of diagnosis of the disease and its possible outcomes in the Arctic regions and timely provision of antiviral treatment of all patients.

The Arctic policy and port development along the Northern Sea Route: Evidence from Russia's Arctic strategy

As global warming continues, the melting rate of Arctic glaciers is further accelerated, which provides favorable conditions for the development of the Arctic's abundant resources, shipping, and ecological research. Accordingly, Russia, as the country with the longest Arctic coastline, has promulgated a series of policies and guidelines which aimed at the development of the Arctic region and the revitalization of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). By strengthening infrastructure construction, reducing port dues, and improving handling efficiency to promote the development of ports along theNSR and also to gives full play to the transportation potential of NSR, which is an inherent need for the development of Russian Arctic region. However, how Russia's Arctic strategy may affect port development along the NSR and whether the Russian arctic strategy can promote the development of ports along the NSR remain to be investigated. This study, based on the multi-source data, uses the difference-in-difference (DID) method to estimate the impact of Russia's Arctic strategy on the development of ports along the NSR. The results from this study indicate that Russia's Arctic strategy has failed to promote the development of ports along the NSR during 2003–2012, and the growth of port cargo throughput is overly reliant on energy exploitation. All of our preliminary results throw light on the nature of the impact of Russia's Arctic strategy on the development of ports along the NSR.

РЕЛЯЦИОННЫЕ СТРАТЕГИИ КАК ФАКТОР ПРОМЫШЛЕННОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ ПРЕДПРИЯТИЙ СЕВЕРА И АРКТИКИ РОССИИ

In the beginning of this year, key development priorities of the Arctic region of Russia were presented, which should become the basis for the Development Strategy of the Russia Arctic until 2035 prepared by the Ministry of the Far East and Arctic Development. Its main goal is to improve the level and quality of life through development of human capital, balanced spatial development, development of the economy of renewable natural resources (local production), implementation of large investmentand infrastructure projects, environmental management, etc.Accordingly, industrial enterprises of the North and the Arctic of Russia are faced with the most important task of producing competitive, innovative products, which requires consolidation of allkinds of resources that are always lacking, especially during the economic recession, low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.The purpose of the article is to show the role of the use of the relational strategy by industrial enterprises of the Northand the Arctic of Russia as an important factor in their industrial policy.Relational strategies of enterprises mean strategies aimed at forming their relational space as a set of links between them that create partnership advantages in order to obtain relational profit for participants.The article presents the authors’ model for forming relational strategies, consisting of five stages with their description, an algorithm for assessing relational interaction, and also considers the use of relational strategy as an important factor in the industrial policy of enterprises of the North and the Arctic of Russia.

Forecasting of some greenhouse gases content trend in the air of the Russian Arctic region

Increasing the number of heat extremes is the global problem associated with the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The cause-effect relationships between the increase in average temperature and the greenhouse gases contents in the atmosphere are not completely determined. The monitoring data of the gases (methane, water vapor, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide) and meteorological conditions on the Russia Arctic area, Belyy Island in summer seasons 2015–2017 was used to investigate the cycles of the dynamic change in the variability of the GHG contents. The linear trend of the average values of the temperature or the GHG content in the summer seasons during the three years was not detected. The highest daily mean temperature (283K) in the summer season was corresponding to the hottest 2016. The daily mean GHG concentrations did not differ within the mean plus or minus standard deviation every year. Analysis of the time series of GHG concentrations showed that the methane and water vapor data associated with the temperature contain decade, week, three- and one-day components. The 24- and 72-h time intervals were taken into account to forecast of the seasonal dynamics of the fluctuations by non-linear autoregressive neural network model which provided high predictive accuracy. For a one-day forecast, the correlation coefficients between the predicted and observed GHG contents were near 0.9.

Оценка уровня экологического риска в речных экосистемах арктической зоны России

The methodological approaches and the results of assessing the environmental risk level in river ecosystems of the Arctic region of Russia was presented. Assessing of the environmental risk level in ecosystem includes identifying possible negative consequences of anthropogenic impact, which are appeared in a violation of the structural organization of biocenoses. An intensification of the ecological devolution of individual communities of aquatic organisms is observed in modern conditions of anthropogenic impact and climatic variations in the Arctic ecosystems of rivers. The tendency to increase the ecological devolution level as the anthropogenic impact intensifies during the transition from less polluted Arctic rivers to more polluted ones (dirty) has been revealed. The ecological devolution level varies from absence (anthropogenic stress) to its appearance in the form of elements of ecological devolution. The results of the final assessment of the environmental risk level in the ecosystems of the Arctic region of Russia according to the ecological devolution level showed that the studied sections of the rivers are characterized by a low and medium level of risk. Further enhancement of anthropogenic impact on the catchments of Arctic rivers can lead to disruption of the ecological state of aquatic ecosystems and intensification of ecological devolutions processes which may increase the level of environmental risk.

Modeling cluster development using programming methods: case of Russian Arctic regions

The aim of this research is to show how the process of data analysis can be automated through development of an information system. The information system can be used for the identification of economic clusters and analysis of the regional potential for economic growth. The authors used data on the Russian Arctic regions with extreme social, geographical, and economic conditions collected from 2009 to 2016 as an example. The authors have designed a database using MS Access software. The authors used the methodology of the European cluster observatory and the approach suggested by M. Porter to identify economic clusters. This methodology was complemented by introduction parameters, which mirror the strength and employment dynamic of the clusters. Based on the employment data of 83 Russian regions during the period of 2009–2016 the authors have calculated cluster localization parameters for nine Russian regions, which are partly or fully located in the Arctic zone. The authors suggest that the cluster structure in this area is weak and most of the significant clusters are declining. The only significant cluster, which is growing in all regions, is the «Oil and Gas» cluster. In conclusion, the authors state that the obtained results are vital for policy makers and can be used for elaborating the regional economic development strategy in order to support regional diversification and specialization, which are closely related to positive spillovers.

Состояние и специфика рынка жилья арктических регионов РФ

Состояние и специфика рынка жилья арктических регионов РФ

Problems of food security in the Russian Arctic

The purpose of this article is to analyse food security of the Russian Arctic regions’ inhabitants. International context consideration allows to show some contradictions in food security concept understanding, that FAO and Russian political elite have. Social disproportions in economic affordability and physical availability of food, consumer preferences and behaviour are revealed. The article addresses original empirical data, statistical regression and factor analysis to examine consumers’ behavioural features, associated with economic inaccessibility of vital food products. It is noted that families with three or more children constantly economize, not buying the necessary amount of meat and meat products, fish and seafood, fruits and berries. Research results indicate that the governmental food security policy should be adapted to the realities of Arctic region inhabitants. We pay special attention to the need to shift the food security concept from external threats and hunger to threats that local population face every day. This problem is particularly relevant for the Russian Arctic zone residents.

Role of NGOs in Promoting Salience of Stakeholders and Social Issues

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) often pressure governments and companies to change solutions to social problems such as environmental degradation by shaping powerful resistance and forming coalitions. There are gaps in understanding how NGOs influence managers’ interpretation of the significance of social issues and social groups in stakeholder and issue salience assessments. This paper aims to explore NGO activism in the Russian Arctic region that emerged during oil pipeline construction and outcomes of resulting regional legislation on social impact assessment and compensation extended to indigenous peoples. It is based on the analysis of qualitative data collected in 2006-2019 using Salience and Institutional Analysis and Design framework, which allows to examine the role of NGOs in elevating salience of indigenous peoples as stakeholders and their concerns within the nexus of business- government-community operating at operational, collective-choice and constitutional levels. The new regulation appears to address NGO activism at the collective-choice level, but actually limits NGOs’ ability to influence radical change at the constitutional level of environmental governance. As a result, active participation of NGOs adds external legitimacy to government innovations, while paradoxically reifying the exclusion of indigenous groups from critical governance functions such as distribution of benefits and participation in modification of solutions.

Creation of new business value as an indicator of the socio-economic potential use: Evidence from the Arctic Zone regions of the Russian Federation

Subject. This article explores the impact of the creation of new value (construction) on the socio-economic system of the Russian Arctic regions. Objectives. The article aims to assess the utilization of the socio-economic development capacity of the Russian Arctic regions. Methods. For the study, I used the methods of business and statistical analyses, observation, measurement, comparison, and the expert assessment method. Results. The article presents certain results of an analysis of the impact of new value creation on economic performance and analysis of the industry structure for creating such value for each particular Russian Arctic region. Conclusions. The Russian Arctic regions are characterized by significant uneven regional development. The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug has optimal conditions for socio-economic development and the greatest investment attractiveness among the other Russian polar regions.

Sustainable Tourism Development in the Russian Arctic: Challenges And Prospects

The study aims to identify the main trends in the sustainable development of tourism in the Arctic Region of Russia and to develop theoretical, methodological and practical recommendations for the Russian Arctic tourism promotion. Crucial principles of tourism sustainability are listed. The author analyses the concepts of integrated tourism promotion of regions and sustainable tourism development, identified by the World Tourism Organization and the Arctic Council. The article outlines the concept of sustainable development of Russian Arctic tourism, defined by the national legislative, directive and statutory laws regulating tourism and the Arctic Region. Along with an analysis of tourism business modification, a review of the particular directions of the organisation and implementation of tourist services of the Russian Arctic is carried out. As a result, promising directions for promoting Russian Arctic tourism in correlation with the global trend of sustainable development, which is characteristic of a modern intensive economy using socially responsible management, are identified. The suggestions to improve the branding system and create an “umbrella brand” of tourism in the Arctic Region of Russia are formulated. The primary role and degree of involvement of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North in the development of Arctic tourism are determined. Innovative pedagogical technologies for highly specialised tourism personnel training are proposed.

Development of human capital in the Arctic regions of Russia

This article considers the human capital development in the Russian Arctic regions as a basis for economic, social and demographic development. The article highlights main human capital theories and changes of its concept undergone over the past years. Human capital components were analysed using demographic resources capital (natural increase, migration growth), health capital (life expectancy, morbidity, mortality), education capital (level and structure of education, level of employment). In the last decade of the 20th century, the Russian Arctic regions lost their attractiveness as a labor market and experienced the negative migration. After the 2010s, the increased state’s interest changed migration trends and natural population growth there. The demographic capital is more prosperous in the Russian Arctic zone than in other Russian regions. It is not typical for other countries and shows little impact of living conditions in Russia (harsh climate, underdeveloped infrastructure) on population growth. The employment structure shows that workers with higher and secondary professional education replace less educated workers. High mortality and morbidity of the population demonstrate low health indicators and problems with health care system in the Arctic regions. In conclusion, summary and recommendations are made to improve the human capital quality in the Russian Arctic regions.

Long-term dynamics of the social space in the Russian Arctic

Social development processes in the Russian Arctic are of special importance. Arctic mineral, fuel and energy resources play a key role in satisfying the demands of the Russian national economy for strategically important types of raw materials. The nature of work activities in the Russian Arctic is distinctive so that labour as a production factor requires a special approach due to stressful climate, which makes living conditions uncomfortable. Dispersion dynamics, distance barriers, small population size in remote settlements, and transport accessibility level contribute to increased resource intensity and energy consumption for life-sustaining activity. Furthermore, the local population is adapted to the harsh Arctic climate and natural environment so that a special Arctic policy of keeping people in the region comes to the forefront. Nevertheless, Russian Arctic is currently remaining a challenging zone due to its complex and non-uniform territorial social and economic development, lack of scientific-based territory management and ineffective social and economic policies implemented there. Nowadays, we need new approaches to elaborate a research and practical agenda for the development of the Russian Arctic. A scientific research methodology must be formulated to transform the system of government control of Arctic region development. An important aspect is to analyse long-term dynamics of the social space in the Russian Arctic of the social space of the Russian Arctic. The article addresses the study results for the dynamics of the social space in the Russian Arctic regions between 1950 and 2018. Transformations in the long-term consistent dynamics of the Russian Arctic were identified to have been determined by the intensity of the region’s industrial development, the scale of government support, and long-term interests of the national economy. Researchers identified stages of the long-term consistent dynamics of the social space in the Russian Arctic region as follows: 1950 to 1990, 1990 to 2000, 2000 to 2008 and 2008 to 2017. This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 19-18-00025 «Socio-economic dynamics and forecast for the development of the Russian Arctic, taking into account geopolitical, macroeconomic, environmental, and mineral factors».

High education and human resources in the Russian Arctic region: problems and particular qualities of development

The article presents a description of the history of high education development in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, provides an overview of the priority areas of popular professions for the region as a whole, and for its individual subjects; analyzes the main indicators that determine the opportunities for training in higher education institutions and identifies the distinctive features of the functioning of higher education in the Arctic region. A number of recommendations are proposed for certain areas of improving the system of training in higher education institutions of the studied region, taking into account its geographical location.

Comparing Models of Sustainable Development for the Arctic Region of the Russian Federation

This paper outlines the concept of sustainability in regard to regional development, examines basic premises of modeling regional relations in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, describes the principles and investigates the specifics of building models for sustainable development in regions of the Arctic. It presents methods to build a model that can fully characterize sustainable regional development in the Russian Arctic and lays out requirements for such a model and its corresponding indicators. The paper also considers possibilities for using and adapting already existing mathematical models exemplified by an autoregressive distributed lag (ADL) model and a neural network model. The authors specify under what conditions these models can fully meet all the requirements, what statistical indicators are of key importance to a numerical representation of sustainable development, what factors can be prioritized to be incorporated in the models, what limitations they have and why these very models show the most promise in terms of both analyzing the current state of affairs and making forecasts. The paper presents the results of testing the models on the basis of real statistical data gathered across the Murmansk region and compares the derived outcomes to draw conclusions from the obtained data. It also summarizes the findings from the built models and assesses the prospects for their further application in forecasting sustainable regional development and utilizing projected outcomes in making management decisions to implement the strategy for the development of the Russian Arctic regions.

Legal-economic regime of the Russian Arctic region in the international legal environment: evolution and development pathways

The Arctic vector in world policies is escalating, no doubt largely because of the predicted increase in the region’s involvement in global economic processes. One of the components of this process – definition of the legal status of the Arctic Ocean, is now in an active phase. The discord now seen in the establishment of international legal arrangements in the Arctic is due to: the international legal custom in the region, special conditions for economic activity in the Arctic region, emergence of new economic stakeholders in the region, global environmental challenges. For Arctic coastal states, like Russia, interests in the Arctic are of vital importance. Some countries, such as Russia, Canada and Norway, are interested in maintaining continuity in the international customary law, whereas some others, like China, Germany, or South Korea, are eager to introduce new means of legal regulation. This article suggests recommendations on further improving the national legislation and the instruments for managing the Arctic regional economic policy. Important considerations here are Russia’s strategic interests in the region, along with harmonization of relationships with other stakeholders, and mitigation of environmental risks. To this end, we have analysed the background for the formation of the international legal custom in the Arctic region, current trends in international law, valid economic grounds for countries to realize their interests in the Arctic. Special focus is on Russian economic policy in view of the challenging situation in the country’s national economy and its international affairs.

Soviet experience of development of the Soviet Arctic in view of modern problems. Review of Zubkov K.I., Karpov V.P. Development of the Russian Arctic: Soviet experience in the context of current national strategy (on the example of the Ural Far North and Western Siberia). Moscow: Political encyclopedia, 2019. 367 p.

Discussed in this review are the results of the research presented in the monograph of specialists in North-ern studies K.I. Zubkov and V.P. Karpov «Development of the Russian Arctic: Soviet experience in the context of current national strategy (on the example of the Ural Far North and Western Siberia)». The reviewer notes that, in general, the study follows the pattern of state-centrism, teleologism and geopolitical alarmism typical for modern Russian Arctic historiography. Among the most important theses of the authors of this peer-reviewed monograph, are the following ones: (1) the transport and economic development was the basis of the Russian / Soviet Arctic exploration program; (2) the Soviet strategy of the Far North development dictated mainly the technocratic and commodity character of the territory exploitation; (3) modern Russia inherits the definition of the priorities of the state policy in the Arctic Region from the Soviet Union and relies on the territorial and production complexes cre-ated back in the USSR. The reviewer expresses serious doubts about the scientific productivity of the classic geopolitical paradigm used by the authors of the monograph: geared towards large-scale generalizations, it is simply unable to capture the full range of contradictions arising in the process of exploration of the Arctic Region. Hence the authors’ tendency to present the entire process of Arctic Region exploration as predetermined, while in reality the history of the Russian Arctic Region colonization is full of collisions; it is more intermittent than consis-tent. In particular, draws attention the constant reproduction of the same topoi in the rhetoric of Arctic Region ex-ploration. For example, from age to age, it has been repeated that the Northern Sea Route is just about to be-come the largest transnational waterway. The reviewer notes the ambiguity of practical recommendations of the authors. Thus, repeatedly expressing the idea of Russia’s interest in the international cooperation in the develop-ment of the Arctic, the authors are concerned to the same extent that foreign partners may force Russia out of the region. The review is aimed at opening a debate on approaches to understanding the Soviet experience in the Arctic Region development.

Environmental innovation in the RF Arctic Zone regions as a tool to realize the demographic potential

Subject. This article discusses the issues of balanced development of regions, the Man-Environment system, and the introduction of environmental innovation in technological processes. Objectives. The article aims to analyze the adoption of environmental innovation in terms of realizing the demographic potential of the Arctic regions of Russia. Methods. For the study, we used a content analysis, statistical data qualitative and cause-and-effect analyses, grouping, and systematization. Results. Most regions of the Arctic show significant levels of environmental impact, including atmospheric air, surface water and land. There is a high disease incidence of the population in the Arctic areas. The proportion of companies implementing environmental innovation in technological processes is negligible. Conclusions. The article concludes that it is appropriate to accelerate the pace of environmental innovation in economic activity. This will help reduce pollution and have a positive impact on public health.

ENERGY SYSTEM STRUCTURE IN RUSSIAN ARCTIC: COAL PRODUCTION FORECAST

The article characterizes the electric power industry in the Arctic regions of Russia. The regions of the eastern zone of the Russian Arctic differ significantly in terms of centralization of power supply. Centralized electricity supply in this territory is represented by only a few isolated functioning energy centers: Norilsk in the north of Krasnoyarsk Territory, Chaun-Bilibinsky, Anadyrsky and Egvekinotsky in the Chukotka Autonomous Region. The Arctic and northern regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) are completely located in the decentralized power supply zone. The paper provides a comparative study of energy system structure. The summary of results obtained the key areas of power generation diversification.

Innovative Development Management of Mining Industrial Companies in the Russian Arctic Zone

Management of innovative development of mining companies of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The paper presents the results of research on the management of innovative development of mining companies of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. When managing the innovative development of Arctic mining corporations it is proposed to focus on three areas: outsourcing non-core activities, institutional and investment approaches.In the paper the existing problems of each of the three areas are analyzed and basic recommendations for their development, taking into account the specific features of the economy of the Russian Arctic regions, are developed. Practical examples of actions of companies for innovative development in line with the proposed directions are considered.The conducted studies are of great theoretical and practical importance for the innovative development of mining companies of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, increasing the quantitative and qualitative indicators of development and processing of mineral raw materials, the exploitation efficiency of natural resources and transition of the Arctic territories to an innovative development way.