"Izvestia": "The indispensable link"
Yamal is experiencing a new social and economic boom.
It's not something you see everyday: just about all the chief executives of the biggest fuel and energy companies on the planet gathered together in one place at the same time. Shell and Gaz de France, Mitsui and E.ON, Mitsubishi and Petronas, Novatek and Gazprom all got together in Salekhard on the Yamal Peninsula in late September to figure out what path the future of world energy would take. And this is certainly no exaggeration, because, as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in the capital of the Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous Area, "the main value of Yamal's resources lies in the fact that they can play a stabilising role in the world markets of natural gas."
Amid the current epidemic of financial and economic uncertainty, Yamal is a stabilising force for more than just world markets. As a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, it is in many ways setting an example of how to overcome the aftermath of the global crisis. Its economy, far from slowing down, has actually been gaining momentum. And the region seems to be doing quite well from a social point of view, as well.
The indispensable link
Yamal's natural gas doesn't just keep the whole country warm; it also contributes a large part of the national budget, which is exactly why good news from Russia's main gas province always makes the headlines. Today, that Arctic area is experiencing a social and economic boom similar to the one it went through several decades ago. Ambitious projects are being implemented and new facilities are being opened. A railway bridge across the Yuribei River was introduced just in time for Putin's visit. The river is the most complicated stretch of the Obskaya-Bovanenkovo line, which will serve as the main artery for the development of the Yamal Peninsula and its continental shelf.
This marks Putin's third visit to Yamal. The first two were made when he was the president of Russia: he attended the launching of the Transpolar Field in Novy Urengoi in November 2001, and presided over a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council of Russia in Salekhard (which laid out the guidelines of government policy in the Far North) in April 2004. The highlight of this visit was a logical continuation of relations between the federal government and the region: the city on the Arctic Circle hosted the enlarged meeting "On the development of gas on the Yamal Peninsula". In addition to the Russian and world oil and gas tycoons, the meeting was attended by members of the Russian government, the president's plenipotentiary representative to the Urals Federal District and the governor of the Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous Area. The meeting, arguably a historical milestone for Russia's economy, brought about three main results. The first one is the decision to complete a comprehensive plan for the development of hydrocarbon resources on the Yamal Peninsula and on the territory in general, with the deadline set for the first quarter of 2010. The adoption of the government programme, developed jointly with Gazprom and the Yamal administration, kick starts the gas tycoons' programme for developing the massive resources of the peninsula and the continental shelf of the Arctic seas, which, in turn, will greatly increase the output of hydrocarbons. Consequently, it will also contribute to the budget, enhance the country's energy security and enable the country to deliver on its commitments to consumers and bring gas to Russian regions. Simply put, it will be a highly significant contribution to the country's prosperity. The second result is that the heads of the major world companies will see first hand that a mutually beneficial partnership with Russia, Gazprom and Yamal is in fact possible. And last but not least, one of the main aspects of the Yamal Peninsula's development will be the creation of a new liquefied natural gas centre in Russia. That is a real step towards diversifying energy supplies, which, given the complicated nature of world relations and financial and economic uncertainties, is a concern of extreme global significance. Yamal plays an indispensable role in completing that task.
Headstart
The neighbouring Krasnoyarsk Territory saw some large-scale developments not long before the meeting in Salekhard. The launching of the powerful Vankor oil field, and the launching of an oil pipeline from the Vankor group of fields to Purpe station on Yamal were just a couple of the subjects discussed at the conference chaired by the Russian prime minister, which outlined a plan for the comprehensive development of the oil and gas fields of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area and the northern Krasnoyarsk Territory. The natural wealth of these territories is stunning: the total resources reach 18 billion tonnes of oil, 7.7 billion tonnes of gas condensate and 136.7 trillion cubic metres of gas. Since the world first began to extract oil, a total of 153 billion tonnes of oil have been extracted, meaning that the reserves of oil on Yamal and in the northern Krasnoyarsk Territory account for 12% of all the oil ever produced on the planet. If you add to that amount two-thirds of the earth's gas reserves, which is exactly the amount that this area possesses, it can rightfully be deemed the main oil and gas province on the planet.
The meeting's participants also decided to develop each oil and gas province in a comprehensive way and confirmed that not only would new oil extracted from new fields be exempt from export duties, but tax holidays on the tax for mineral extraction, icluding gas, would also be spread to the whole territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area.
Yamal, for its part, has welcomed the Russian government's new proposals. "For the past ten years we have ceaselessly bombarded the corresponding ministries and the Russian government with proposals on geological prospecting, the comprehensive development of new fields, the creation of additional power-generating and transport capacity, and the introduction of tax breaks for the fuel and energy companies working in the Arctic. It's great to see that our proposals have been accepted. The development of the Yamal Peninsula and its offshore resources, of new areas in the east of the territory, the expansion of long-distance gas and oil pipelines - all of this lays the foundation for the sustained development of the Russian state for decades to come. It will effectively ensure the stability of the Arctic regions," said Yamal Governor Yuri Neyelov.Not only fuel and energy
The fallout of the crisis has reached the Far North. But the territory's head, Yuri Neyelov, is certain that as long as the authorities diligently fulfill their commitments, it's possible to preserve social and political stability, not to mention people's faith in the government and readiness to cooperate. "Yes, it's true that Yamal's budget has been cut by 30% because of the crisis. But all our social obligations have remained unscathed. Children's recreation, healthcare, education, the preparation of housing and utilities for the long winter, the early delivery of supplies to the territories north of the Arctic Circle - this is all being done. The crisis hasn't caused any failures," the governor of Yamal assured.
The fuel and energy industry is not Yamal's only answer to the global crisis. Constant, extensive attention is also being given to the development of the agro-industrial complex. In addition, tourism, which is quite new to the region, is also bringing in dividends. The authorities clearly understand, of course, that tourism and the agro-industrial complex cannot possibly rival fuel and energy. But at the same time, these spheres can undoubtedly prove to be important for the territory's economy. Out of the 17,000 tourists who visited this remote area last year, two thousand were foreigners.
Similarly, Yamal boosted its supplies of deer meat to the European Union countries from 50 tonnes in 2008 to an impressive 150 tonnes this year. Just the other day, Yamal agreed to supply deerskin to Sweden, Germany and Italy. Granted, the crisis cannot be wished away. But, by all appearances, more and more Europeans want to wear deerskin boots and see ecologically clean meat on their tables. And the people of Yamal couldn't be happier about that.
School started two months ago. The primary schools have enrolled more than 75,000 children this year. The crisis certainly proved to be no hindrance to the traditional opening of four modern schools that would make schoolchildren in some capitals green with envy. Yamal is in the process of building 11 new schools with funds from its own budget.
Again, in spite of the crisis, housewarming parties will continue. Filling the schools with children will not be a problem, either. It may seem like one of the least popular places to live, but Yamal has the fourth highest birthrate in the country. Families with two, three or more children are the norm here. A large, well-knit family is becoming a matter of prestige on the Yamal Peninsula. This is perhaps Yamal's most convincing answer to the challenges of the crisis, not to mention the most important indicator of the region's health.
