Arkhangelsk Region
The Arkhangelsk Region is located in northern European Russia. Its 3,000 kilometre coast meets the White Sea, the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea. The region comprises the Nenets Autonomous Area, as well as the Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land archipelagos.
Area: 587,000 sq. km. Population: 1.3 million. Urban population: Approximately one million.
The region comprises 229 municipalities. Capital: Arkhangelsk. Other major cities include Severodvinsk, Kotlas, Novodvinsk, Koryazhma and Mirny.
The region is abundant in water resources. It has 70,000 large and small rivers with a total length of 275,000 km. The four largest local rivers, namely, the Northern Dvina, the Pechora, the Onega and the Mezen all stream into the Arctic seas. The wide and deep Northern Dvina creates favourable navigation conditions and serves as the main regional waterway.
The Arkhangelsk Region has considerable timber resources. Forests cover an area of 22.3 million hectares. Total timber reserves exceed 2,500 million cubic metres.
The region has numerous mineral deposits. High-capacity oil and gas production facilities have been established in the Nenets Autonomous Area. Bauxite production is primarily sited in the Plesetsk District. Europe's only diamond-bearing province has been discovered in the Arkhangelsk Region.
The region also has substantial deposits of limestone, dolomites, cement industry feedstock, gypsum and anhydrides, sands, clays and easy-melting loamy soils, construction-grade stones, subterranean waters, manganese, copper ores, zinc, lead, amber, agates for jewellery making and other minerals.
The region has a well-developed timber industry, fisheries sector and shipbuilding industry. Merchant ports, primarily the Arkhangelsk seaport, also called Russia's "Northern Gate," have a large-scale infrastructure. The Plesetsk space centre, a major national space-launch facility, is also located in the region.
Over 24,000 enterprises and organisations of all forms of property and with every conceivable economic-management status are registered in the region.
In 2011, regional fixed-capital investment volumes reached 17.5 billion roubles and exceeded 2010 levels by 42.6%. Construction volumes, including housing construction, have expanded by 9.4% compared to the same period from 2010. In January-June 2011, the region commissioned 462 buildings with an area of more than 40,000 square metres. The timber industry accounting for the bulk of regional budget proceeds expanded production by 23%. The value of shipped products topped 5.7 billion roubles.
The region has retained its transport and infrastructure positions in the Arctic. Most Arctic research vessels are still deployed here. The port network continues to function. The relevant hydrographic
base, which has been preserved, makes it possible to implement all the required projects in the northwestern Arctic.
It is intended to implement five large-scale Government-backed investment projects in the Arkhangelsk Region, including construction of an ore-processing plant on the basis of the diamond deposit named after Grib. This project is to receive 25 billion roubles' worth of investment. There are also plans to reconstruct the Arkhangelsk airport; to expand production at the Velskaya poultry factory; to launch production of timber fuel pellets in the Ustyansky District; and to build housing with a ramified engineering and social infrastructure in Arkhangelsk's Maiskaya Gorka territorial area.
