By Yelena Kovachich, Russia is to embark on a large-scale extracting of minerals in its Arctic shelf, but all the ecological risks will have to be considered and taken care of first, say experts. The government has prepared a programme for the development of the country’s Arctic shelf up to 2030, envisaging increasing oil production by 5 fold and gas by 4 fold, and the government believes that the completion of the programme will have an 8 trillion rubles economic effect.Russia has been working on the development of its Arctic shelf for many years, but that raises the question of the safety of the extraction of minerals in the region, in view of the fragility of the area - the most vulnerable on the planet and which may not withstand the location of heavy industries. The Russian government is to carry out a detailed study of the ecological fallout from the industrial activity in the region, and the bearing of responsibility in the event of serious damage to the shelf. Boris Nikitin assures that work at the existing deposits in the shelf is being done according to established standards. Source: Voice of Russia.
