FES BRIEFING PAPER The Arctic Russian Geopolitical and Economic Interests Valery P. Pilyavsky March 2011 Russia’s North is one of the country’s richest areas. Its value for the country’s economy derives from the vast quantities of valuable raw materials to be found there, including oil, gas, gold, diamonds, nickel, copper, plati­num, iron and timber. The total value of mineral resources in Russia’s North exceeds 22.4 trillion US-Dollar, accor­ding to Western estimates(by comparison, the total value of US mineral resources is eight trillion US-Dollar). The Northern region of Russia is home to less than 10 percent of the population, while its contribution to the national revenue is up to 20 percent or one-fifth of Russia’s GDP. Up to 60 percent of raw materials exports come from the north of the country. According to 2009 data from the Science journal re­search group, about 83 billion barrels of oil – the equi­valent of 10 billion tons and 13 percent of the world’s unexplored reserves – lie under the Arctic ice. Almost all the Arctic natural gas resources(about 1,550 trillion cubic metres) are off the Russian coast, with most fields at a depth of under 500 meters. More than 200 potential fields have been discovered in the Barents, Pechora and Kara Seas. The Arctic zone accounts for 91 percent of natural gas and 80 percent of proven Russian reserves of industrial gas. The mainland part of the Arctic boasts unique reserves of copper and nickel ores, tin, platinum metals, agro­chemical ores, rare metals and rare earth elements, major reserves of gold, diamonds, tungsten, mercury, ferrous metals, optical raw materials and gem stones. The Arctic regions – the Kola Peninsula, Taimyr, Chukotka, Yakutia, Norilsk – contain reserves of apatite concentra­te(more than 90 percent), nickel(85 percent), copper (about 60 percent), tungsten(more than 50 percent), rare earth elements(more than 95 percent), platinoids (more than 98 percent), tin(more than 75 percent of known resources in the Severo-Yanskoye field), mercury (the main known reserves are in the Yano-Chukotka province, with major reserves on Taimyr Peninsula), gold, silver(about 90 percent) and diamonds(more than 99 percent of which are on the territory of Yakutia, in the Arkhangelsk Region and the Taimyr Autonomous Area). The Arctic zone accounts for the major part of Russian reserves of gold(40 percent), chrome and manganese (90 percent), platinum metals(47 percent), indigenous diamonds(100 percent), vermiculites(100 percent), coal, nickel, stibium, cobalt, tin, tungsten, mercury, apatite(50 percent) and phlogopite(60 - 90 percent). The overall forecast for coal deposits is at least 780 billion tons. The area accounts for the production of 100 percent of diamonds, stibium, apatite, phlogopite, vermiculite, rare and rare earth metals, 98 percent of platinum metals, 95 percent of gas, 90 percent of nickel and cobalt and 60 percent of copper and oil. 1 Russia’s national interests in the Arctic are economic, geopolitical, scientific and environmental. The Russian Arctic is also a place where the geopolitical interests of both Arctic and non-Arctic states intersect owing to their geographical position. The economic interests focus on the major mineral re­serves(hydrocarbons, non-ferrous and precious metals 1. Рудные ресурсы российской Арктики , http://www.arctictoday.ru/ region/resources/670.html