Russia intends to increase the area by expanding the boundaries in the Arctic

January 10, 2012

Officials have already decided that the best way to do it on paper. Ministry of Economic Development proposes to amend the baselines for calculating areas of the shelf and exclusive economic zone, according to a government source. The special charm of these changes is that they do not require the approval of other countries, but the boundaries will move hundreds of miles.

In late 2011, the Ministry of Economic Development sent to the Marine Board of the Government the clarify results of the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of Russia is measured. The order was given in October and included in the “Principles of State Policy in the Arctic in 2020 and further perspective.”

Now in Russia there are legislative acts adopted in the Soviet Union. To count the outer limits of maritime waters of the Arctic coast, a combination of straight baselines (they straighten uneven coast) and normal lines (how far the sea recedes at low tide strong) is used.

Now Ministry of Economic Development proposes to use this method of straight baselines, and the normal line to apply only if the direct use is impossible. In this case the boundary of territorial waters, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf boundary are to move to the North Pole for a few more miles. Several new areas of the Arctic seas are offered by the ministry to include to the historic waters.

The territory of the country is slightly increased because of it.

At the same agreement with the other Arctic countries are not required: these internal changes are consistent with international practice, says a source.

- If the shoreline is too chopped up, then put up points on the ledges and held a straight line from which are measured areas further out to sea, – explains the logic of officials professor of international law, Peoples’ Friendship University, Aslan Abashidze.

Ministry of Economic Development has agreed a draft “Basic provisions of international legal justification clarification of straight baselines along the Arctic coast” with Rosreestr and Ministry of Environment. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense did not send their comments as specified in the source of the government. However, consideration of this issue will likely be held until mid of 2012 as research on adherence to the historical foundations of water is still going on.

For the past ten years Russia is trying to expand the boundaries of its territories of the Arctic shelf. The application was filed in the United Nations twice and has not yet been approved. The fact is that under the Convention on the Law of 1982, the coastal State may measure extension of the continental shelf within 200 nautical miles (370 km). At the same time, if the coastal State to prove that the seabed of the continental shelf is a natural extension of the mainland, the border can be moved by 350 nautical miles (648 km). To prove this, Russia has conducted drilling in the vicinity of the Lomonosov Ridge.

The main interest of Russia in the Arctic is the energy. If the zone can be extended up to 350 miles, the total hydrocarbon resources of the continental shelf are estimated at about 100 billion tons of standard fuel, of which 80% is natural gas.

- The larger the area where you can get the resources to run the more stock of the country. All the more so that the current deposits are either at peak or have already been exhausted, says Sergey Pikin, the director of the Energy Development Fund.

Source: “Izvestiya”

Russia intends to increase the area by expanding the boundaries in the Arctic

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