Russian companies Sibneft and Yukos agreed to jointly study exploration zones in the Chukotka and East Siberian seas off the autonomous Chukotka district.    The equal joint venture partners will process existing seismic data from the area. They intend to conduct further seismic studies and may later drill exploration wells.

Sibneft said it is drilling its first onshore exploration well in Chukotka from a site on Molchalivy Island; it is also preparing to develop the West Ozyornoye gas field. 

Sibneft also said the geological structure of the East Siberian Sea and Chukotka Sea basins is similar to that of Alaska's North Slope.

JSC Sibneft Daughter Obtained License on Development of Oil and Gas Fields in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Russia Today, Apr 30, 2001

Oil prospecting begins in Russia's Chukotka
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 20, 2001

Excerpt of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS
Noyabrsk, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, 20 March: Yamal geologists have started oil prospecting in Chukotka. A drilling team of the  Sibneft-Noyabrskneftegaz company has begun to drill the first exploratory  well...
Noyabrskneftegaz specialists told ITAR-TASS that there are at least two major oil-bearing areas (over 40,000 square km on the ground alone) in the Chukotka Peninsula ... Minimum total land and offshore oil resources are estimated at 1.2bn tonnes of oil and gas condensate...

Regular flights to link Russia's Chukotka and US Alaska
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Apr 26, 2001Text of report by Russian news agency RIA

Anadyr, 26 April:
Regular flights will link Chukotka and Alaska later this year. A memorandum on this has been signed by the governors of Autonomous Area governor and the state of Alaska.
The Chukotka administration says that there will be shuttle flights at first. Afterwards regular flights will start operating. The flights will link three towns on the Russia coastline of the Bering Straits: Anadyr and the settlements of Provideniye and Lavrentiya.

New leader of Russia's Chukotka brings in experts, equipment to transform region
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Apr 6, 2001 Text of report by the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 5 April

It is 100 days since the new governor Roman Abramovich was elected in Chukotka [northeastern Siberia]. His team has devoted all this time to creating and strengthening the power structures and making a detailed analysis of the state of affairs in the Chukotka Autonomous Area.

The formation of Chukotka's government is complete. It has been joined by nine  people - four deputy governors and the leaders of major departments and committees. Two deputies have experience of working in major companies like Sibneft and Russkiy Alyuminiy. With a view of studying the state of affairs in Chukotka dozens of specialists in economics, energy, construction, and medicine have been sent to Chukotka's districts and individual villages. Special attention is being paid to providing the Area with energy carriers.

PEVEK The location place for NTPP primary unit is Pevek harbour of Chaunsky region, Chukotsky autonomous district.
ANADYR, the capital of Chukotka in north-east Russia

CHUKOTKA FOREIGN RELATIONS:  JANUARY 2001

Retail operations include a chain of about 720 service stations across western and central Siberia.
The company,  with proved reserves of 4.6 billion barrels of oil, controls a  major refinery in Omsk that produces about 340,000 barrels  of oil per day.
Sibneft also has strategic alliances with  Western oil services companies Schlumberger and BJ Services.

Reclusive oligarch Roman Abramovich claims to control Sibneft, although Western banks ING Barings, ABN AMRO, and Deutsche Bank nominally hold 23%, 20%, and 19% of the company, respectively.

Chukotka Sits On Riches But Lives In Poverty
By Andrei Ivanov and Judith Perera

MOSCOW, Nov 12 (IPS) - For the past two weeks, Anadyr, the capital of Chukotka in north-east Russia, has been facing daily power cuts, as its local authorities desperately hunt for cash to run life-sustaining basic services. As the Arctic winter sets in, power is being shut off daily for four hours a time, putting refrigerators out of service and endangering winter food stores. Even the gas supplies cut out when the electricity goes off.

On paper, Chukotka, 6,700 kilometres north-east of Moscow, is rich beyond its needs. It sits on the second largest reserves of gold in Russia, as well as significant reserves of coal, tin and oil, with plentiful fish stocks off its long coasts. Yet the inhospitable province still cannot provide for itself and must 'import' everything from toilet paper to light bulbs from St Petersburg, and pay for them with its earnings from the raw materials it 'exports' to the south. And there are no earnings, as their trading partners in Russian provinces elsewhere see their cash flow disappear and the value of their assets evaporate in the present economic crisis.
Last year the region's total trade turnover was worth four million dollars. But this covered exports worth 20,000 dollars and imports worth 3.98 million dollars -- a 99 percent deficit.

In Soviet days, when the region was developed to allow the exploitation of its natural resources, Moscow encouraged people to move into the region by offering higher than average pay and many other privileges. A 'northern delivery' programme, run from St Petersburg, was established to bring in supplies regardless of cost.
This is no longer possible. Last year the supplies feel short by 700,000, including a missing 138,000 tonnes of vital oil products, says Vladimir Goman, chairman of Russia's State Committee for the North.
The situation is no better this year. Only the 'survival minimum' of food and fuel has been delivered to the northern regions, he says.

Chukotka overall needs 460,000 tonnes of coal, but supplies will be reduced to a minimum this winter because of the financial difficulties. Even then the local administration has no money to pay the workers who deliver it to the general populace. Furthermore Chukotka's only nuclear power plant at Bilibino may soon be closed by safety fears and funding problems. The plant has not been paid for the power it supplied in 1997 or 1998, leaving it with a deficit of 109 million roubles (about 6.8 million dollars).

Goman concedes that the Russian government has done its best to settle the problems under conditions of economic crisis and a paralysed banking system. He also notes that Chukotka's own administration needs improvements in efficiency even though it employs twice the number of bureaucrats than the Russian average. But he also complains that Moscow has failed to deliver all the money it has pledged in the past, creating a crisis for this and next year. ''Poor organisation is only a part of the problem,'' he says.
''From 1994 to this day, about 20 billion roubles in credits and loans were allocated to northern territories for goods and supplies. However, only 40.5 percent of the money was received by regional funds for support of northern supplies. Where is the rest of the money?''

''Many towns and settlements have been deserted by their residents,'' he says. In fact the region's population has fallen by half, from 160,000 to 80,935 people between 1990 and 1998. Whole settlements are being shut down as people lose their jobs, abandon their valueless homes and property and seek work elsewhere.

The old and poor are trapped. ''Today, one in every five northern residents is a pensioner. It is necessary to encourage their movement to the country's southern regions in order to release funds to support the able-bodied population.'' Only very few people presently benefit from relocation aid packages designed to help migrants buy new homes or ship their belongings to new homes in Central Russia. And those who are leaving are the descendants of the original privileged Russian immigrants.

Like the old, the indigenous peoples of the region are being left behind to make the best of what is left of their traditional ways of life and work, as reindeer herders and fishermen.

For Goman, it is the plight of these indigenous peoples that most worries him. ''The preservation of traditional occupations and crafts is a matter of survival for these peoples who live in extremely difficult conditions.'' These arctic rural communities, where the average lifespan is just 45 years, are plagued by tuberculosis, parasitic infections, alcoholism and unemployment.
''Even with the present limited resources of the federal budget it is important to find funds for promoting reindeer husbandry as a major source of food supplies for ethnic villages and nomadic tribal communities,'' he says.
He wants sea fishing licences to go to ethnic minority businesses and fresh funds directed to commodity producers. He also urges a new system of ownership of land and mineral resources -- presently controlled by federal and regional governments -- that gives the indigenous populations a bigger say and a fairer share in the division of resources.

Whether all this can be done is not known. ''The government has been very busy passing laws on the far north,'' Goman says, ''but few of them are implemented.''

Russia's Chukotka Autonomous Region Overview

 Summary. Chukotka Autonomous Region is located in the northeastern-most area of Russia on the Chukotka peninsula and on the adjoining part of the mainland. In 1992, Chukotka was separated from the Magadan Region and is currently one of 89 Russian regions. Chukotka peninsula is separated from the United States by the Bering straight and is the Russian territory closest to the Unites States, both geographically and in its potential economic and business cooperation.

Severe climate conditions have not prevented Chukotka region from developing various branches of its industry - mining, reindeer breeding, hunting, and fur trade; and the economic potential of the region goes even far beyond those industry sectors. Handicraft and distinctive culture create the unique ethnic atmosphere of Chukotka. Chukotka has good potential for long-term investment. Being traditionally a land of reindeer herders and sea mammal hunters, Chukotka is distinguished by gold ore deposits and rich natural resources which form a basis for potential profitable business cooperation with this region of Russia. End Summary.

 1. History and Geography. The Chukotka Autonomous Region is one of the 89 regions of the Russian Federation. It is the farthest northeastern part of Russia that borders Alaska via the Bering Straight. The closest to Alaska is the Russian Ratmanov Island which is less than five kilometers from one of the two Diomede Islands belonging to the U.S. In 1643, the explorer and seafarer Semyon Dezhnev reached the Kolyma outfall, and in 1648, he went from the Kolyma outfall to the shore of Chukotka peninsula. Finally, his boat was cast ashore by the severe sea, and in 1648, Semyon Dezhnev reached the Anadyr outfall by land and discovered a straight connecting Asia and North America. Dezhnev's name was given to the farthest northeastern point of Asia at Chukotka.

 The Chukotka Region was formed in 1940 as an independent national unit, but later it was included in regions of Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, and since 1953 - in the Magadan Region. In 1980, Chukotka obtained a status of autonomous region within the Magadan Oblast, and in 1992, the region once again became an independent unit of the Russian Federation.

 The word "Chukotka" was formed from the Russian name of an ancient tribe, "Chukchi" (they call themselves Lyg'oravetlan). The word "Chukchi", is derived from "Chauchi", that is "rich with reindeers", and is known since the time of Dezhnev's reports 350 years ago. Thus, the name "Chukotka" itself is full of content and means "an area inhabited by reindeer people, Chukchi".

The rivers in the region belong to the Arctic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean basins. The largest is the Anadyr River which flows into the Bering Sea. There is a number of lakes in the region. Permafrost and tundra cover most of Chukotka. During summer months, between May and September, the tundra is vibrant with flowers, shrubs and wild berries. Chukotka has 31,516 square kilometers set aside as protected nature areas, including the Wrangel Island, a 795,000 hectare nature reserve in the Arctic Ocean, which is home to polar bear, walrus and Arctic geese. Fauna includes many types of animals and fish such as arctic fox, squirrel, fox, wolf, bear, white hare, reindeer, seal, walrus, and some others. Currently, several institutions are interested in establishing an international park, Beringia, which would include a large territory in Chukotka.

 2. Population. Chukotka's population is currently 80,000 in comparison with 113,000 in 1995 and it is diminishing rapidly. Urban population represents 71 percent, and rural population - 29 percent. Population density is 0.2 persons per one square kilometer. About two thirds of population have emigrated to the mainland in last five years, 10 percent of them are Chukchi and 60 percent - Russians. In order to attract younger population, Chukotka administration is working closely with Ukrainian and Belorussian governments. Unemployment rate in Chukotka is 3.8-4.5 percent.

 The major native populations of Chukotka are Chukchi and Chuvantsy who live in the tundra of Chukotka in iarangas, the reindeer-skin dwellings. Other native populations include Eskimo, Koriak, and Eveny. However, about 65 percent of population came from the mainland and include Russians, Ukrainians and Belorussians. Russians were attracted to Chukotka by high salaries (standard salaries were multiplied by three, and it was a perfect opportunity in Soviet times to work in Chukotka for three to five years and then return to mainland and buy an apartment there) but nowadays salaries in Chukotka are not much higher than in other regions of Russia (average salary is 2,600 rubles, or US$430) while prices are two to three times higher because of transportation and storage expenses.

3. Economy, Industry and Agriculture. Chukotka ranks seventy sixth in Russia in the total industrial output. Chukotka economy is focused on mining as a major industry sector. The region is rich in natural resources represented by deposits of tin ores, mercury ores, gold, coal, natural gas, and building materials. Chukotka has the second largest reserve of gold and tungsten in Russia. Chukotka's economy is based on the mining industry, but its industrial output is declining because of low profitability. The main industrial centers are Pevek and Bilibino.

After separating from the Magadan Region in 1992, Chukotka lost well developed economic infrastructure, and it is now aimed at establishing new economic links.

 Gold mining is a leading industry and is centered in Bilibinsky, Smidtovsky, and Chaunsky districts. In 1994, Chukotka produced approximately 10 tons of gold. Tin is mined in the Chaunsky and Iultinsky districts. The steel and metal industry is represented by non-ferrous metallurgy (71 percent of total industrial output). Power and energy industry (19 percent) is based mainly on Bilibino atomic power plant and the Chaun thermal power plant. Currently, a floating atomic power plant is being constructed which will be moved to Pevek and it is expected to make energy less expensive. The fuel industry holds three percent and is represented by coal mining (Anadyr). Fish products and reindeer meat represent the food industry.

 The Bilibino nuclear power plant is the closest Russian nuclear power station to the United States. It is located 1,300 kilometers from Nome and 2,200 kilometers from Anchorage. The Bilibino power plant was built in 1973, and it is planned be put out of operation by 2007. Russia plans to build small new-generation floating nuclear reactors for use in electricity production and water desalination. The design has been developed by a Minatom mechanical engineering unit in Nizhny Novgorod and the Kurchatov Atomic Energy Institute in Moscow. Construction of the Pevek floating nuclear power plant is expected to be completed by the end of the century. It will be the first of 15 small floating reactors designed to bring electricity to remote regions of the Arctic.

The advantage of the floating power plants, is that they will not require refueling for up to four years, will operate for up to 40 years, being interrupted every 13 years for a return to Murmansk for maintenance. The power produced by those power plants would be five times cheaper than from other available sources (10 cents/kWh), and reactors will pay for themselves after only 10 years. Two KLT-40 35 Mwe reactors that are presently used in nuclear-powered ice-breakers, will be placed aboard a 160 meter long unpropelled steel barge. As well as the reactors, the barge will have four more units, either power plants or desalination plants, or a combination.

There are no railways and highways in Chukotka. Port service and support is one of Chukotka's main industries. Anadyr, Beringovsky, Egvenkinot, Lavrentiya, Provideniya, Schmidt, and Pevek are seaports on the Northern Sea Route which goes from Murmansk to the Pacific. Major seaports are Anadyr and Pevek. Both cities also have international airports that require modernization. There are three regular flights from Moscow to Anadyr each week and one charter flight from Moscow to Pevek, both from Vnukovo airport. The flight takes about eight hours. Chukotka is nine time zones away from Moscow (+9 hours Moscow time).

Telecommunication system of the region includes:

 While establishing a unified communications system, Chukotka purchased digital communication equipment S-2000 from Iskratel, Slovenia. The unified satellite communications system will be established by the end of 1998 and will make it possible to call major cities of Chukotka directly using the city code. Communications system will be established using the Russian Gorizont satellite on geostationary orbit.

Currently, only 20 to 25 percent of Chukotka's population and enterprises can make long-distance calls due to the lack of point-to-point communication channels, and low capacity of the long-distance telephone station; and the Chukotka Division of Communications cannot satisfy the high demand in telephones for population due to the lack of telephone capacity. Cellular network is being developed using low orbit satellites via the central station though the demand is relatively low because of low purchasing power of the population.

 Chukotka region ranks eighty fourth in Russia in total agriculture production. Green-house cultivation of vegetables is common because of permafrost. Animal husbandry includes reindeer-breeding, fur-farming, and fishing. Throughout the region, some 450,000 reindeer graze each year. Chukotka produces several reindeer products, including meat, skins and hard horn. Chukotka does not export any agricultural products. It imports most of food products either from the other regions of Russia or from abroad. Chukotka officials claim that the United States is the major exporter of food products to the region, including meat, vegetables (mainly potatoes) and fruit that come from Alaska.

4. Science. The Scientific Research Center "Chukotka" (NITs) is a research institute located in Anadyr that is engaged in natural sciences such as geology, permafrost studies, water ecosystems, studies of languages of native population, and ethnographic studies. The institute has arranged a number of expeditions to study the tundra nature and rich natural resources of the region as well as ethnography. Scholars from Japan, the United States and many other countries visit NITs as interns.

The main research issues of NITs are as follows:

 - study of the structure of geospheres and the principles of organization of biosphere and noosphere systems in Western Beringia,
- biologic cycle characteristic features in the Beringia sector of Arctic and Subarctic zones,
- study of biological and ecological diversity in Chukotka, estimation of biological resources potential,
- ecological expertise of realization of technical and other projects,
- ethnosocial and medico-ecological problems of the region,
- ecological certification of population centers and enterprises,
- creation of ecological, socio-demographic and mineral data banks of the region, and
- strategy of protection and rational use of nature in Chukotka.

 5. Major Cities. The capital city of Chukotka is Anadyr. Its population is 13,000 which is large for an Arctic city. Majority of population are immigrants to the region, mainly Russians and Ukrainians with a small native population. The population has been fluctuating in recent years as people migrate away from Chukotka. In the stores one can find all kinds of imported foods including those from the U.S., priced several times higher than in Central Russia.

Pevek is one of the major industrial cities in the region. Established in 1930-s, Pevek is now the most northern city in Russia and a large seaport. Pevek received city status on April 6, 1967, and became the first city to the North of the Polar Circle. Pevek is the main city of the Chaunsky District of Chukotka. It is situated in latitude 69'40 North and longitude 170'11 East, above the Polar Circle.

Pevek is accessible by sea 100 days per year, and atomic ice-breakers are needed to enter the port in winter months. Having more than 30 ships a year entering the Pevek seaport ten years ago, Pevek currently has two to three ships arrive at port primarily to deliver food to the city. Some gold and other ore mines have been closed. Nevertheless, industry is still developing in the Chaunsky District. The road from Pevek to Bilibino has been built, and it is currently being expanded further to the east to Egvenkinot to facilitate transportation to and from deposits of natural resources. Mayskoye ore deposit is planned to be developed in 1999-2000.

In January 1999, the tender will be announced for the Mayskoye deposit by the Chukotka administration. There have also been extensive uranium deposits. Between 1942 and 1956, there were a number of camps for political prisoners who worked in uranium deposits in the Chaunsky District. The international airport and the seaport are expected to become international transit points in the North. Given the current economic difficulties, Pevek Administration was the first in Chukotka to open a Center for Social Protection which is a place where aged people can have lunch, medical help, meet, and relax.

 6. Investment Opportunities. Chukotka Autonomous Region may become an area of long-term investment for U.S. companies. Due to economic restructuring, there has been an increase in the number of cooperative projects in following: gold and polymetal mining industry, communications, transportation, meat and fish processing industry, and the development of biological resources.

Gold Mining. The Mayskoye golden ore deposit lies 280 kilometers south-east of Pevek. The exploration of the field has been completed. The ores are refractory and are represented by saturated sulfites and dynamometamorphism zones in rock mass of black shales. The average content of gold is 12 g/t. More than 70 percent of the gold is associated with pyrite and arsenopyrite.

Gravity and floatation concentration is considered to be effective, but the extracted concentrate must be specially enriched. Chukotka administration has sent delegations to Canada, Australia and South Africa looking for technology for refractory ore processing. In January 1999, the Chukotka administration plans to announce a tender for supply of technology for gold ore processing in the Mayskoye deposit.

 Copper mining (the Peschanka copper field 150 kilometers south of Bilibino), tin reserves (Pyrkakayskoye deposit 80 kilometers east of Pevek), and oil and gas deposits in the Anadyrsky lowlands represent other areas for business cooperation.

 Transportation. Due to specific climatic conditions of Chukotka, problems of transportation are considered to be crucial. As there are few roads in the region, air transport is of primary importance. Building of new roads, upgrading outdated aircraft, development of airports and seaports are major economic issues in Chukotka that require investment. Chukotka needs to replace aircraft, the AN-24 and the AN-26, for more modern versions.

Anadyr international terminal is another investment project. Chukotka is also in need of new aircraft and helicopters to operate in the Arctic conditions, and to deliver small and large cargoes. Of particular importance is the development of better motor transportation network for delovery of goods. In the Chukotka Autonomous Region, motor transport deliveries are carried out by ice and dirt roads which are built every year, and in most cases, they do not correspond to the provisions of the safety code. The time has come to build gravel roads which can be used all year round. They will provide access to large mineral deposits in operation, and deliver cargo to areas situated far from the sea.

 Reindeer Herding. Since reindeer herding is an important branch of the Chukotka economy, technology for processing of reindeer skins, hard horns, endocrine, and ferments are of an interest to Chukotka. Since it is expensive to transport raw materials from rural communities to Anadyr, Chukotka needs new and small technology and equipment to slaughter and process reindeer, and multi-purpose equipment to dry velvet antlers, to process hard horns, endocrine, ferments, and to produce medical preparational units.

 Marine Mammal Hunting. Marine mammal hunting is part of the traditional lifestyle of the indigenous population in coastal Chukotkan communities. Native peoples are provided with an annual quota to procure 169 whales, 10,000 ringed seals, and 3,000 walruses. Marine mammal by-products are used as food in fox ranches. Seal skins and fat may be utilized for consumer food production. Due to lack of funds, Chukchi are unable to buy technology for processing marine mammals and use them for production of consumer goods. Cold storage and processing plants have to be constructed in the region.

 Tourism. Tourism is almost non-existent but has a huge economic potential. However, hotels and almost all other branches of service industry are below international standards and require investment. In 1992 and 1993, groups of cruise tourists came from the U.S. city of Nome for "extreme tourism" to explore native culture and the beautiful nature of the region. Pevek administration underlined their interest in developing tourism in their region. Native art of local population could become another attraction to the region. Whale bone carving is a world-famous art of Uelen village in Chukotka, the farthest eastern inhabited point of the region. Whaleboat regatta and whale hunting in July are major attractions in Uelen and Lavrentiya villages. In the Chaunsky District, petroglyphs were discovered dated to 10,000 B.C. Chukotka officials noted that they should have in place, by the end of 1998 a new tourism law that will make this area more attractive to tourists.

 However, since 1994, there has been no organized tourism in the area. The major reason for lack of tourism in the region is that tourist infrastructure is under developed, and there is no international class hotels, as mentioned above. However, long-term investments in tourism in Chukotka may represent opportunities for U.S. investors.

 Imports of Food Products. There is currently little foreign investment in the region. Foreign trade is developing and includes mainly food and other imports from neighboring Alaska. However, import from the United States is slowly decreasing. Chukotka administration established a representative office in Seattle, WA. They expressed interest in continuing to import potatoes, meat and fruit from the United States as well as many other food products.

Chukotka administration recognizes the high quality of U.S. food products and admits that buying potatoes in Seattle is cheaper than in Vladivostok. Regional officials also mentioned that there are 15 kinds of U.S. potatoes well adapted to northern conditions. However, in 1998, Chukotka will be purchasing potatoes from Holland and other food products from Central Russia because of lack of business relations with U.S. companies.

Pevek administration will be interested in importing fruit juices and baby food from the United States. Pevek administration is not able to do prepayments and would like U.S. supplier to consider two-three month delayed payment upon sale of food products. Pevek officials also stated that they would like to purchase U.S.-made children clothes.

7. Contact Information:

The Chukotka Trade and Investment Office in Seattle
(non-profit entity organized to represent Chukotka)
Phone: (206) 624-6539
Fax: (206) 624-7679

 Chukotsvyazinform Joint Stock Company (Anadyr)
Phone: 4-25-66, 4-26-41
Fax: 4-01-17
Yuri Tuzov, General Director

 Pevek City and the Chaunsky District Administration
29, Obrucheva Ul., Pevek, Chukotka, 686610, Russia
Phone: 7 (42-749) 2-17-83
Fax: 7 (42-749) 2-21-42
Yuri Nikulin, Head of the Chaunsky District and Pevek City Administration

 Council of Federation
Committee for the Northern Territories
26, B. Dmitrovka, Moscow, 103426, Russia
Phone: 7 (095) 292-5735
Fax: 7 (095) 926-6951
Maxim Danilov, Assistant to the Committee Chair

Master of Sciences in Geology and Mineralogy (1975), Assistant Professor of the Dept. of Geology and Geochemistry of Combustible Minerals, Faculty of Geology (1985). Member of the Russian Committee for deep-water drilling, member of Russian Oceanographic Committee, Russian National Coordinator in UNESCO program "Floating University".

Graduated from the Faculty of Geology, MSU, 1969.
Academic interests: sea oil and gas geology. Master's project "Comparative description of the geological structure and oil and gas bearing capacity of Northern CHUKOTKA and Alaska". With a group of colleagues introduced the sea specialisation at the Dept. of Geology and Geochemistry of Combustible Minerals, has taken part in a number of long sea expeditions, organised the program "Education and Research Process" - "Floating University" (1990), annually supervises international (with participation from France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Tunis, etc.) training on sea aboard Russian ships in Black and Mediterranean Seas. Set up the UNESCO MSU Centre for sea geology and geophysics at the Faculty of Geology. In 1996 awarded Lomonosow prize for pedagogical achievement.

Lectures on "Sea Geomorphology and Oceanology", "Geology and Oil- and Gas-bearing Capacity of the World Ocean", "Geological Oil Involving Processes on the Continental Marches", "Methods of Sea Geological and Geophysical Works", "Sea Geology"; teaches classes in "Lithology", "Natural Reservoirs" and "Interpretation of Sea Geological and Geophysical Data". Initiated and annually supervises sea geological and geophysical student training.
Lectured in High School Institutions in Russia and abroad: France, the Netherlands, Great Britain.
Published over 100 works.http://www.bellona.no/imaker?id=17134&sub=1

Environmental groups against floating nuclear power plant
 Earlier this year, the Centre of Environmental Policy of Russia and Greenpeace published a report about the expediency of the floating plant construction. The main conclusion is that floating nuclear power plants are dangerous and unacceptable from the environmental point of view as well as not profitable.

Word to the specialists from trust Dal'morneftegeophysical, which one lay out the concrete data about exploration of oil gas resources of Chukotka. They assert(approve), that the geologic features of region allow to guess availability there of larger patterns, perspective on availability of oil and gas, than found out. The basic hopes search bundle thus to offshore exploration of Bering sea. A main body Anad’yr , Khatyr of basins, and also all Navarinskij basin lay outside a land, where looking ups was not undertaken - ever, although these zones are considered as continuation famous by the jumbo reserves Alaskan oil and gas  province.

The Mineral Management Service of USA (US Mineral Management Service) conducted prospecting east part Long – Chukotka basin on boundary of the Russian economical zone in Bering sea and has estimated geological reserves in the studied region in 2-5 billion tons of conditional propellant. In next Navarin basin the same service predicts availability 160 mln tons of oil and 220 billion cubic metres of gas distillate. In April 1985 the Americans sold licenses for 24 leases in this basin for 150 mln, dollars - with a condition, that the works can begin only after Russia and USA will conduct demarcation of the zones on shelf. In 1990, demarcation was held, and the holders of the licenses have an opportunity to begin prospecting.

The forecasts and expectations
Moreover, to north from Chukotka, on shelf Chukotka and East - Siberian seas the so-called upheavals Dzheralda and Vrangelya are located, and are farther in depth Northern Ledovi (glacial) Ocean - Severo - Chukotka basin. Both regions are perspective from outlook of oil exploration and gas, although climatic conditions for this purpose are extremely adverse.

After election of Roman Abramovich governor of Chukotka (and during his campaign) the Russian mass media were not bought up on the gamble that original concern of the oil magnate on Far East appears to be the hypothetical oil and gas resources of the Chukotka peninsula. The deduction, however, was made that poor quality hydrocarbons there were not enough to justify development. At the same time, analysis that is more steadfast demonstrates that with prospecting outlooks and production activity of hydrocarbons in that region is not at all as pitiable as it seems.

     The belt of shallow water directly adjacent to a shore line of a  marine basin is designated as a "transition zone".  It has long been  inaccessible for marine geophysical surveys and onshore study.   As a consequence the correlation of offshore and onshore information  depended to a great extent on remote sensing methods, largely  magnetic surveys.  For this reason these transition zones have  remained a blank spot on many maps of oil-gas potential.

     Many onshore oil-gas areas  located close to marine basins  extend offshore.  Such shallow-water zones are prime targets  because extrapolation from the onshore is not that much of a  problem.   Even small fields may be economic.  The transition zones  include coastal marshes, embayments, banks, river deltas, shallow-  water reefs, broad tidal zones, littoral zones, and shallow-water  coastal sectors, where water depth is generally less than 10-15 m.  Typical of all of these are conditions that are not favorable for  seismic surveying.

     Some provinces, regions, and fields extend into transition zones.   Such fields as Kharasavey in Yamal and Medyn in the Pechora  Lowland are divided by the shore line into almost equal parts.  The  zone of the Russian Shelf with shallow water depths of 0-20 m  extends over an area of 570,000 sq km, and the Arctic Shelf is  assessed to contain up to 25 percent of the total Arctic offshore  resources.

     In the west of the Arctic Shelf are two large oil-gas provinces, the  transition zones of which have high potential.  One of these is the  broad shallow-water area adjacent to the Pechora Lowland and  Kolguyev Island.  Traps there are small and pay zones have a wide  stratigraphic range.  Density of predicted resources of individual  sectors of this transition zone is commensurate with maximum  values of resources of well studied onshore structures.  The   shallow-water zone of the Mezen depression in the south of the  Barents Sea may also offer good targets.

     Another broad favorable belt of shallow water is in the Kara Sea.   This is a direct continuation of the West Siberian province.  A whole  series of large fields extend offshore from Yamal and Gyda Peninsulas.   In spite of relatively simple and well studied geology, geophysical  investigation of these transition zones is difficult.