The Corporation for the Development of the Far East and Arctic is currently working on more than 500 projects in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF). According to Tass (a Russian news agency), this was announced by Alexei Chekunkov, the Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and Arctic, at the plenary session of the 11th International Forum, Arctic: Today and the Future, in Saint Petersburg on Friday.

'Currently, the corporation has almost 500 projects in the pipeline that cover quite a wide spectrum. I believe that the new support measures, such as the Programme for Support of the Indigenous Minorities, for which the government of the Russian Federation has earmarked an annual amount of RUB 500 mn in the 2022–2024 Federal draft budget, will encourage interesting investment projects related to the life of indigenous minorities as well as traditions, culture and daily routine of the peoples of the Arctic,' he said.

The minister's presentation suggests that the new projects, which are already in progress, could create 16.5 thousand jobs while the volume of investment is estimated to be RUB 320 bn.

Mr Chekunkov pointed out that at the moment AZRF has 266 agreements with a total investment amount of RUB 312.5 bn. Implementation of these projects will provide jobs for more than 11 thousand people. The majority of the AZRF residents are located in the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions as well as the Republic of Karelia.

The minister says that the investment projects related to the life of the indigenous minorities, allow the Russian Federation, as part of its chairmanship in the Arctic Council, to show a balanced approach to protecting the environment, improving the quality of life of the population and developing the Arctic economy.