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Arctic Yearbook 2015
branch-wise and departmental principles of management and governance (Pelyasov 2005; Vitjazeva
& Kotyrlo 2007; Vasiliev et al. 2009).
In 1991, the State Committee for Affairs of the North (Goskomsever), Russian Federation, was
established as a federal body responsible for northern policy, its characteristic feature being a territorial
(horizontal), non branch-wise principle of management (Vitjazeva & Kotyrlo 2007). In 2000, the
Committee was eliminated, and its functions were transferred to the Ministry for Regional
Development (Russia) and Ministry for Economic Development and Trade (Russia). According to
some Russian economists (Pelyasov 2005; Vitjazeva & Kotyrlo 2007), the Commission liquidation was
a mistake. The northern territories and the Arctic region are autonomous in state governance due to
complicated and diverse problems to be solved under special conditions.
Delivery of fuels to Arctic regions of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) and Chukotka
Autonomous Okrug
Transportation-logistic schemes for delivery of fuels as a large share in the total volume of delivered
goods, in terms of quantity and finance, to the northern regions under study are complicated, as the
launch and conclusion of river and marine navigation and the operation of winter roads differ in
timespans, with resultant delivery risks (Huskey et al. 2014; Vasiliev et al. 2009; Stephenson et al. 2014).
The extent of fuel and energy delivery routes is measured in the hundreds and thousands of kilometers,
while annually delivered volumes of goods to each community are generally small, sometimes
composing only a few tons for small settlements.
The Sakha Republic (Yakutia)
Oil, gas condensate, oil products (diesel fuel, petrol, and aviation kerosene), and coal produced either
in the republic or in other Russian regions, are delivered to the Arctic regions for production of electric
and thermal power, supply of facilities, and transport fuel.
Required fuel and energy resources come from various areas. Oil products are delivered from plants
via railroad to the town of Ust-Kut located on the Lena River in the Irkutskiy Oblast, where they are
subsequently loaded on to vessels and transported down the river. With the construction of the
railroad on the right bank of the Lena in the vicinity of Yakutsk (a settlement of Nizhniy-Bestyakh)
and a large-scale reconstruction of the highway in South Yakutia–Yakutsk, new schemes for goods
delivery have been elaborated to facilitate a significant decrease in the risks relating to shallow waters
in the upper reaches of the Lena in the shipping season.
Oil and gas condensate are transported from deposits located in West Yakutia via pipelines to river
ports and are then loaded onto river vessels. Coal is delivered from the Dzhebariki-Khaya mine
through the Aldan and Lena rivers and from the Zyryanskiy mine on the Kolyma River (Figure 2).
Motor vessels with goods (fuel energy and coal) for northern territories go down to the Lena estuary
and the Kolyma River. If necessary, the goods are shipped on to river boats and seagoing vessels, and
take the sea route for estuaries of the Anabar, Yana, Indigirka, and Kolyma rivers, where they are
transshipped aboard shallow-draught crafts.
State Support of Delivery of Fuel & Energy Resources