365
Arctic Yearbook 2014
Figure 3: The estimated importance of the town-constituting enterprise and small and medium businesses as
employers as a percent of the local working-age population in Kirovsk and Revda in 2009–2020 after
realization of the investment projects included in the CIPs (KIPMM Kirovsk 2010: 70; KIPMMGP Revda
2010: 43)
Figure 3 shows targeted estimates for the growth of the number of workers in SMEs which are
needed to replace the estimated loss of workplaces in the town-constituting enterprises in the mining
industry as part of the planned technological modernization process.
Kirovsk as a Resource Community
OJSC Apatit, the town-constituting enterprise of Kirovsk, operates also in Apatity and is a
significant employer in both towns. It is a daughter company of PhosAgro. Kirovsk is dependent on
OJSC Apatit as more than 90 % of its budget incomes come from the company (V. Dyadik, The
Deputy Head of the Kirovsk administration & The Head of the Financial-Economic Management
of Kirovsk, personal communication in Kirovsk, June 8, 2012). The volatility of the price of natural
resources was a significant blow to the Russian economy in 2008–2009, but only had small negative
impact on OJSC Apatit and Kirovsk. Hence, a strong belief in further stable development of the
local mining company prevailed among the town’s representatives (O. Denisov, The head of the
Kirovsk administration, personal communication in Kirovsk, June 8, 2012; A. Obrezanov, The Head
of the Management of Economic Development of the Kirovsk administration, personal
communication in Kirovsk, June 8, 2012). However, the volatility of natural resource prices and
growing competition in world markets caused Kirovsk and OJSC Apatit significant problems in
2013 (Kabysh 2013).
Kirovsk and Economic Diversification into Tourism
Kirovsk is a special case among the single-industry towns of the Murmansk region due to its
diversified economy. Tourism plays a notable role as a secondary industry in the local economy
(Gorbunov, personal communication, June 19, 2012). In Kirovsk the development path has
Resource-Based Development & the Challenge of Economic Diversification