Alexander Burkov: The regions of Siberia and the Urals should become a rear area for the Arctic, providing it with technologies and equipment

Acting Governor Alexander Burkov also believes that within the framework of import substitution programs, not only scientific and industrial, but also the human resources potential of the regions should be in demand.

Today, the second meeting of the working group of the Ural and Siberian Federal Districts on assistance in promoting the scientific and production potential of the regions for the implementation of projects in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation took place within the framework of the VTTA-Omsk-2017 High Technologies and Equipment for the Arctic Forum.

Representatives of federal and regional authorities, industrial enterprises, scientific, educational and public organizations studied and analyzed the experience of participation of the Siberian and Ural regions in "Arctic projects" and the factors preventing the more active involvement of regional industry in the sphere of interests of large resource organizations operating in the North and in the Arctic.

Acting Governor Alexander Burkov noted the special importance of work in this area for the Omsk region as a major industrial center of the country. "The domestic defense industry needs to develop the production of high-tech civilian products. This is due to plans to reduce the state defense order in the coming years. Working for the Arctic will give defense industry enterprises an additional burden," Alexander Burkov emphasized.- "About 30 thousand people are employed in the Omsk defense sector. It is important for us that defense industry enterprises work stably, provide employment and decent salaries to employees. There are currently 32 Omsk enterprises on the list of suppliers for the Arctic, mainly small and medium-sized companies. Last year, they supplied more than 8 billion rubles worth of products to the north. The Federal Register of goods and services of Russian enterprises for the needs of the Arctic zone includes information on almost 200 types of Omsk products. Our offers are systematized. For more effective interaction of market participants, it is advisable to systematize the needs of the basic customers."

According to Alexander Burkov, Omsk entrepreneurs have also actively joined the production of products for the hard-to-reach northern territories. "In working out this issue, we count on the support of the federal authorities and the office of the plenipotentiary representatives of the Siberian and Ural districts. In today's geopolitical environment, the resources needed by the north can only be produced by domestic enterprises. The regions of Siberia and the Urals, where industry is traditionally strong, should become a rear area for the Arctic, supplying the necessary equipment and technologies."

Konstantin Ivanenko, a representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, said that starting this year, all industrial companies should switch to their own import substitution plans, which will allow them to step up purchases of equipment and technologies directly produced in Russia, including those necessary for the implementation of "Arctic" projects. Acting Governor Alexander Burkov believes that the tasks of import substitution should extend not only to production, but also to human resources.

"State-owned corporations and vertically integrated holdings often sign multimillion-dollar contracts for the construction and installation of facilities and import specialists from abroad. If it was because of the lack of personnel, it would be understandable. But we have them. And the Omsk region has its own competencies – engineering and working personnel, experience. I think that when developing the Arctic, it is necessary to take into account not only the volume of supplies of domestic equipment, but also the involvement of regional human resources," Alexander Burkov, the head of the region, is convinced.

Valery Kryukov, Director of the Institute of Economics and Industrial Production Organization of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, considers it important to develop the economy of the inner regions of Siberia and the Urals as the basis for the sustainable functioning and development of the Arctic. The involvement of regional enterprises in the process of Arctic exploration and development can be based on interregional Ural-Siberian cooperation, when regions create value chains rather than individual types of equipment.

Following a joint meeting of the working group of the Ural and Siberian Federal Districts on assistance in promoting the scientific and production potential of the regions for the implementation of projects in the Arctic zone, all proposals will be summarized by the Offices of the Presidential Plenipotentiaries in the Ural Federal District and the Siberian Federal District and sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Golovko, Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Siberian Federal District, co-chairman of the working group, noted the great potential of the Ural and Siberian regions to participate in Arctic development projects, but this path is not easy. "Scientists and industrialists who develop technologies and produce products, as well as companies that buy them, said today that this work is complex, difficult, and requires skills and new approaches. If a single management center, the Federal Agency for the Arctic, is created, this work will go faster. But the voice of Siberia and the Urals is heard anyway," Vladimir Golovko noted.