A united system of naval bases for ships and next-generation submarines will be created in the Arctic to defend Russia’s interests in the region.

A united system of naval bases for ships and next-generation submarines will be created in the Arctic to defend Russia’s interests in the region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

He urged the government to provide full state funding for the socio-economic development of the Russian Arctic through 2017-20.

Putin said that a separate state agency should be created to implement Russian policy in the Arctic and to improve the quality of governance and decision-making in this area.

“We do not need a bulky bureaucratic body, but a flexible operational structure, which will help better coordinate the activities of ministries and departments, regions and businesses,” he said.

At a Russian Security Council meeting Tuesday, the president said that suggested “strengthening of the naval component of the Federal Security Service (FSB) border guard group.”

“At the same time, we should strengthen the military infrastructure. Specifically, I’m referring to the creation of a united system of naval bases for ships and next-generation submarines in our part of the Arctic,” he added.

Putin emphasized that even the smallest aspects of the integrated security system in the Russian Arctic needed attention.

“All security issues should be thoroughly worked out during multiagency exercises and training sessions, in which the units of the Defense Ministry, Emergencies Ministry and other structures should take part on a regular basis,” Putin said.

“Russian oil and gas production facilities, loading terminals and pipelines in the Arctic must be protected from terrorists and other potential threats,” he added.

"It makes sense to create a body similar in status to the state commission with broad authority, as it was previously done for the Russian Far East," Putin underlined, adding that he would await specific proposals from the government.
He urged Russian experts to “be active in bilateral and multilateral consultations with governments of the Arctic states and assert every piece of the continental shelf of the Russian Arctic marine areas.”

Putin said that Russia is already successful in this field, as the country managed to come up with a strong argument to prove its indisputable right to a piece of land in the Sea of Okhotsk.

During the 33rd session of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in March, Russia staked a claim for the area of “52,000 square kilometers in Sea of Okhotsk, which is a continuation of Russia’s continental shelf,” he said.

The problem of establishing the international legal border of the Russian continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean requires urgent and careful attention, the president said.

Putin said that the construction of new nuclear and diesel icebreakers should be accelerated to develop an effective economic model for the Northern Sea Route.

“The turnover of the Northern Sea Route must be at 4 million tons by 2015,” he said.

Putin urged the speedy completion of modern navigation infrastructure, communications, technical services and emergency care to be established along the Northern Sea Route – from Russia’s Far East to Murmansk on the Barents Sea.

“We need to make sure that it would be profitable and convenient for shipping companies to operate under the Russian flag, so that the majority of transport in the Arctic would be carried out by vessels under our jurisdiction,” he stressed.