Fylkesrådsleder Tomas Norvoll Tale Barentssamarbeidet og Leningrad 06.april 2017, Bodø

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1 Fylkesrådsleder Tomas Norvoll Tale Barentssamarbeidet og Leningrad 06.april 2017, Bodø Nordland and the High North Norway is developing a new national High North Strategy. The County Council of Nordland is positive to this work, especially because the regions are included and have influence in this work. Additionally Nordland County Council will develop our own High North Strategy. The county council has a particular focus on the business development in this work. The focus has not been clear enough in the previous cooperation with North-West Russia. A new report on the Northern Sparsely Populated Nordic Areas was presented in Brussel March 13th and now Thursday afternoon in Bodø. One of the important findings in the OECD report is that Norway s regional policy is narrow in scope. A broader regional policy in Norway will be a fundamental tool for developing the high north. Many of the resources that are located in the European Arctic are shipped out as raw materials. There is a huge Arctic potential if we could climb higher up the value chain. Another priority is safety and emergency. In the two projects MARPART and Arcsar, we are pleased to have a Russian participation. It is important that the main rescue centers and other emergency institutions cooperate well. o - We would like to invite the Russian Ambassador to the Preparedness Conference on May 31st and June 1st in Bodø. The oil and gas industry is the initiators and partners for this event. On the evening

2 before the conference there will be held an open debate about safety and preparedness in the High North. The municipalities have played an important role for the local and regional cooperation between Norway and Russia, but the activities in the different municipalities have varied. The Norwegian Barents Secretariat have recently started a project aiming to strengthen the cooperation between municipalities in Northern Norway and North-West Russia. Leningrad region is also included in this initiative. The people-to-people perspective is very important for the cooperation in the High North. The local and regional cooperation has strong ties and has not become weaker during the recent years with a strained relationship at the national level. Although I consider it as a good sign that several Norwegian ministers attended the Arctic conference in Arkhangelsk last week (27th -30th March). The research institutions in Nordland are also examples of actors who have well established cooperation with Russian institutions. Both Nord University and Norway's Arctic University, campus Narvik, has several joint educational programs and research projects with universities in the Barents regions, Leningrad region, St. Petersburg and Moscow. In addition to the cooperation in the university sector, we see a potential for more cooperation in education at upper secondary schools aimed at business. The Barents regional Council (BRC) Finnmark County Council goes in to the next 2 year Chairmanship period on October 2017, while Sweden takes over the Barents Euro Arctic Council (BEAC) Chairmanship

3 The process on revision of the Barents Programme is started. At the previous BRC meeting in Alta 23rd March it was decided to establish a task force with one representative from each of the member countries to prepare a draft Barents Programme. It will be relevant to use the EU s Arctic Strategy and the OECD report in this process. China is one of the countries that is showing an increasing interest for the Barents region. The relation between Norway and China is normalizing and it is important cooperate with relevant Chinese actors since we have several common interests. The Barents cooperation has its 25th anniversary in 2018, and in this occasion the regional and ministerial council (BRC and BEAC) will arrange a large conference; Barents Davos. Neither the content or location of the event is decided yet, but we are looking for opportunities in Kirkenes and Murmansk. The suggested target group is politicians, academia and business. Cooperation with Leningrad region 30th Anniversary There will be two main events; one in Leningrad region 6th to 9th April, and one event in Nordland on the autumn this year. The content of the events is not completely clear yet. One of the former employees of the Consulate General in St. Petersburg will start working in Nordland County Council s administration from mid April through December to coordinate activities related to the anniversary. In addition to the main events, Nordland idrettskrets will arrange the Barents Summer Games 2017 in Bodø 1st-3rd September. This is a cooperation with several organizations in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia athletes aged 15 to 25 will meet and compete in 15 different sports (Northern Norway, Northern Sweden, Northern Finland and Murmansk in Russia). This year youths from Leningrad oblast will also participate, in two different sports ( ).

4 There will also be various cultural exchanges and art exhibitions in the two regions during Aquaculture: Leningrad region has promoted a desire for cooperation with Nordland County Council within aquaculture, especially fish farming. Aquaculture has been identified as one of the major sectors of business development in North-West of Russia, and the need to take on this development is outlined in several official papers during recent decades. Especially the need to coordinate and integrate the aquaculture with traditional fisheries and other interests at water bodies have been focused. So far, concept commercial aquaculture possibilities in the Leningrad region have not been properly evaluated and the integrated business concept for sustainable aquaculture development has not been developed. Akvaplan-niva AS and Nord University in cooperation with GosNIORH (the oldest fisheries research institute in Russia) have prepared a study for investigating possibilities for developing sustainable aquaculture in the Leningrad oblast, North-West Russia with three basic goals: - To perform a suitability evaluation study for aquaculture in the Leningrad region - Present sustainable aquaculture production concepts in the region - Make a master plan for developing aquaculture in the region as a tool for the authorities, research institutes and commercial companies. The present proposal aims to make a development plan integrating production potential, environmental status and management procedures to be used by the responsible authorities in the Leningrad region and investors having interest in aquaculture. Other relevant topics for collaboration: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

5 - Transfer and development of models and approaches to access and utilise renewable energy solutions - Transfer and development of energy efficiency concepts Waste Management - Modernization of the waste management sector. Marketing, organization and technology related to business development. Ship Building Industry It is decided that Russia/Leningrad region shall modernize their fishing fleet Overview - meetings and events High-level Arctic conference in Arkhangelsk 27th-30th March The first Indigenous People s Summit will be held in Moscow 28th April 30th Anniversary event in Leningrad region 6th-9th June 8th Parlamentary Barents Conference in Naryan-Mar on 7th-8th June The Arctic Stakeholder Conference will be held in Oulu on 15th to 16th June The Barents Summer Games 2017, in Bodø 1st-3rd September The annual Barents Rescue will be held in Karelia 4th -8th September The next meeting for the Norwegian-Russian interregional and cross-border cooperation will be held in Nikkel 12th -13th October. The next BRC meeting will be held in Arkhangelsk 17th October, back-toback with the BEAC (ministerial) meeting 2018 is the 25th anniversary for the Barents cooperation (BRC and BEAC). Overview - bilateral agreements in North-West Russia - Nordland County Council Leningrad region - Nordland County Council Arkhangelsk region Municipalities:

6 - Narvik Kingisepp (Leningrad region) - Bodø Vyborg (Leningrad region) - Tysfjord Kirisji (Leningrad region) - Ballangen Tosno (Leningrad region) - Steigen Podporozhe (Leningrad region) - Gildeskål Lodejnoje Pole (Leningrad region) - Vefsn Volkhov (Leningrad region) - Sortland Montsjegorsk (Murmansk region) - Rana Petrozavodsk (The Karelen Republic)