Private companies could be invited into long-term Arctic shelf exploration

Private oil and gas companies can be allowed to work on the Arctic shelf in the future, Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Sergey Donskoy said.

"Going forward, I think once projects enter a more mature stage, private companies too will be allowed to actively participate," he told reporters in Crimea on May 4.

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"The doors are not closed, we are looking for ways to work on the shelf more efficiently," the minister said.

Speaking of the situation in general, he said that the recent meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin focused on "economic mechanisms that would stimulate companies, not just private, to work on the shelf."

"There were interesting proposals, there has been an instruction to work through them for a month," the minister said.

The proposals are primarily about supporting geological prospecting work.

"Some decisions" will be made this year, because it will be difficult to continue working on the shelf without the support, especially given the external constraints, Donskoy said.