Transport Infrastructure of the Russian Arctic: Specifics Features and Development Prospects
The Arctic vector is presently one of the most essential issues in the Russia’s internal policy since this is the Arctic region rich in natural resources which shall ensure sustainable development and national safety in the 21st century. It is obvious that the objectives of the large-scale mining of the Arctic resources are inextricably linked with a need of development and modernization of the traffic infrastructure. The authors examine main factors that define the specific operation of the traffic industry under the Arctic conditions; the role of the state in the development of the traffic infrastructure is emphasized. It is proven that the unbiased difficulties and high risks of the traffic industry operation in the Arctic regions are caused both by the complicated natural and geographic settings and systematic underfunding of the traffic industry in general. It is shown that the implemented and to-be-implemented ambitious infrastructural projects aim at the servicing of large-scale export-oriented industrial enterprises and assume no intensive development of the socially-minded traffic infrastructure ensuring servicing of the local population. The conclusion justifies the need of including objectives of the socially-minded traffic infrastructure development to the policy documents devoted to the development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (or the RFAZ) as one of the factors for the life quality improvement of the local population.