Elena Sychenkova
Expert, Committee for Foreign Economic Relations, Murmansk Oblast Administration
Regional cooperation within the European Union (EU) is being studied closely in Russia. In many respects, the success of cooperation between regions within the framework of a single space is dependent upon the implementation of the principle of subsidiarity. This was set out in the European Outline Convention on Trans-frontier Cooperation signed by the Council of Europe in 1980, commonly known as the Madrid Convention. Russia joined the Convention and ratified it in 2002, but protocols still need to be ratified. Attempts to introduce the Euroregion model of cross-border cooperation are under way between Karelia and Kaliningrad and their respective neighbours. A sufficient legislative base has been established in order to stimulate cross-border relations: there are federal laws, presidential decrees and the Concept for Cross-Border Cooperation. Significant support is being given by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the form of the Department of Relations between Subjects of the Federation, with its Consultative Council comprising representatives of all of Russia’s regions. A meeting of the State Council of Russia in January 2003 was dedicated to developing cross-border cooperation.
Over the last 15 years, cross-border cooperation has been of considerable importance to the development of Murmansk oblast. The regional administration have since 1988 signed agreements with the border territories of Norway and Finland. Murmansk oblast is one of the most active regions of the Russian Federation in external relations. The oblast has played a full part in the work of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC); Murmansk has been a member since the organisation was established in January 1993.
A wide range of contacts has been established with the northern provinces of Norway and Finland, and painstaking efforts continue in this sphere. In 2001–02, a working version of the Cross-Border Cooperation Concept between Murmansk oblast and the Finnish province of Lapland was prepared, which served as the basis for the Agreement on Cross-Border Cooperation between the government of Murmansk oblast and Lapland. This was drafted and adopted by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Russia and Finland, and signed in Murmansk on 27 June 2002. Routine plans are constantly being drawn up and adopted for specific collaborative events with Murmansk’s Nordic neighbours.
The Agreement on Cooperation in Murmansk oblast, the Republic of Karelia, St Petersburg and Leningrad oblast, signed by the governments of Finland and the Russian Federation on 20 January 1992, is also important to the development of cross-border cooperation in Murmansk oblast. It makes it possible to develop mutually-beneficial cooperation within the framework of the agreement, while saving time and money compared with the federal-level agreements that are usually necessary in such instances.
Although Murmansk oblast does not directly border Sweden, the geographic proximity makes us consider each other as neighbours. The terminology that the EU uses to signify cooperation between neighbouring regions implies an understanding of cooperation that is broader than simply contacts along borders. Relations between Murmansk oblast and the northern regions of Sweden can therefore be viewed within the framework of cross-border cooperation, and they are in fact a traditional component of cross-border cooperation in the Kola Peninsula and northern Europe.
The aims, principles and priorities of cross-border cooperation in Murmansk oblast comply fully with the Concept for Cross-Border Cooperation in the Russian Federation, which was ratified on 9 February 2001.
There are good opportunities to discuss cross-border cooperation at the regular meetings of the Consultative Council of the Subjects of the Russian Federation for International and Foreign Economic Relations, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nonetheless, it is important for Russian legislation in the field of cross-border cooperation to be developed further.
The opening of the Norwegian Consulate-General in Murmansk and of the Murmansk branch of the Finnish Consulate-General in St Petersburg has been important in supporting the development of cross-border cooperation. Under the Treaty of Cooperation between the Nordic countries of 23 March 1962, the Norwegian Consul-General is also the Honorary Consul of Sweden, which makes it possible for inhabitants of Murmansk oblast to obtain both Norwegian and Swedish visas locally. There is also a representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Murmansk. The work of these diplomatic institutions minimises the amount of time and money spent on obtaining visas by participants in cross-border cooperation projects and the general public.
Certain complications have arisen in the implementation of cross-border cooperation as a result of neighbouring states joining the Schengen visa agreement in March 2001. Since then inhabitants of Murmansk oblast have had to pay more and wait longer for visas to visit Finland and Norway, and this has of course affected cooperation in border regions, particularly for non-commercial organisations and educational institutions and for ordinary people-to-people contacts. Nonetheless, the number of crossings of the Russian–Finnish and Russian-Norwegian borders has increased, and has become the greatest testimony to the breakdown of the previously closed zone of the far north of Europe.
On 15 March 2001, the Eighth Session of the BEAC took place in Murmansk. On the eve of the event, negotiations were held between the Russian and Norwegian ministers of foreign affairs, Igor Ivanov and Thorbjorn Jagland. These were also attended by the Governor of Murmansk oblast, Yury Evdokimov, who proposed an initiative to retain the practice of issuing national visas for residents of the border territories. As a result of the resolutions adopted, discounts on visas for certain categories of inhabitants of Murmansk oblast have been introduced.
Increased participation by the regions of north-west Russia in the development of cross-border relations is an important positive factor in the economic development of Murmansk oblast. The Kola Peninsula is an industrially-developed region, with a high proportion of export-oriented enterprises in the raw-materials sector: mining accounts for 50–55% of industrial production and the fishing industry for about 16–17% of output. In total, industry accounts for about 50% of regional product. Although in the Soviet period in the 1980s industry made up approximately 70% of regional product, only 10–12% of total industrial output was exported. In the mid-1990s, this rose to 62%, and the situation is roughly the same today: 55% of industrial output was exported in 2002. The oblast exports non-ferrous and ferrous metals, seafood products and, to a lesser degree, timber. As a result, the mining and fishing industries have given Murmansk oblast’s economic profile a largely export-oriented appearance.
As in Kaliningrad, much of the development of Murmansk has been determined by its unique geographical location. The countries that Russian diplomacy defines as part of the ‘far abroad’ are its close neighbours. The entire Russian border with Norway and a significant part of the Russian-Finnish border run through Kola district of Murmansk oblast.
The existence of an all-weather port is extremely important for the economy. Over the last five years, the amount of cargo handled by Murmansk’s commercial port has doubled. Since Murmansk is the starting-point on the Northern Sea Route (a transport corridor which skirts the Arctic and links Russian ports with Japan on the Pacific Ocean), promoting this logistical route will, it is hoped, contribute to the development of the regional economy. However, there is also cause for concern, since the vessels of the icebreaking fleet are reaching the end of their service life. Shipping charges went up by 57% in 2003 because the fleet’s maintenance funds were redirected towards the completion of a new icebreaker at a St Petersburg shipyard.
When assessing the development potential of Murmansk oblast’s foreign economic relations, it is also important to consider new structural and administrative factors within the regional economy. The merging of smaller businesses into larger ones by establishing vertically- and horizontally-integrated holdings is as apparent in Murmansk oblast as it is elsewhere in Russia. The most important industrial concerns are now part of major holdings. The Kandalaksha Aluminium Plant, the Kovdorsk Mining and Processing Complex and Pechenganikel have been incorporated into SUAL, EvroKhim and GMK Norilsk Nickel respectively. Hence, the oblast’s businesses have lost the capacity to run their own affairs. The fact that the centres of decision-making are predominantly located in Moscow has effectively decreased the influence of the regional political and economic elites over the region’s major businesses.
Relations with Norway and Finland are regarded as priority areas in terms of Murmansk oblast’s foreign economic contacts. An organisational framework for cooperation has been laid down by the BEAC, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2003. Another organisation for Nordic cooperation in Europe, the Nordic Council, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2002. The term ‘integration’ is clearly one of the objectives of the Nordic Council, despite the fact that not all of the countries in the Council are members of the EU. As for the nature of economic relations between the Barents Sea region and Russia, the term ‘cooperation’ can be applied to the fishing sector and the timber sector where Russian raw materials are processed by Norway and Finland respectively. Barents region cooperation is successful mainly in the non-commercial sphere. Its achievements can be seen in people-to-people contacts, in fostering tolerance and in recognising the importance of open and friendly relations.
The changes arising from the accession of new members into the EU will not cause a reduction in cooperation between the border regions of Russia and other states in the far north of Europe. The many different forms of contact and the significance of the specific Nordic character of cross-border international relations are two factors that will give cooperation in the far north of Europe the prospect of real success.
