Environmental organizations consider the Partomchorr apatite-nepheline ores deposit, situated in the northern part of the Khibiny Mountains, to be part of the future national park. After the government issued a license to NWPC to develop the Partomchorr deposit, environmentalists reacted by spreading misleading information about NWPC to the media and online, in addition to appealing for all development at Partomchorr to be banned. NWPC, the Kola Mountain Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Giproruda (St. Petersburg) found it necessary to respond to the appeals with an official declaration addressed to Murmansk regional governor Dmitry Dmitrienko, Chairman of the Murmansk regional Duma Yevgeny Nikora and Chief Federal Inspector of Murmansk region Vladimir Losev.
Murmansk regional Duma Chairman Nikora, sent the following reply to Sergei Fedorov, Chairman of Board of Directors of NWPC:
The idea to create a large natural protected area in the Khibiny Mountains is not new. The national park will be situated on 168,400 hectares of Khibiny and Lovozero tundras, whose landscape is unique for Russia and all of Northern Scandinavia.
In reply to an appeal sent in late 2010 by the Government of Murmansk region, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation advised that the creation of Khibiny national park is provided for in the draft territorial planning scheme for the development and placement of federal natural protected areas through 2020. The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation prepared the territorial planning scheme on instructions from the Russian Federation Government.
The draft scheme was recently sent for validation to the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation, after which it will be introduced to the Government of the Russian Federation for approval. Then the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation will establish the boundaries of the natural protected areas according to the scheme.
Khibiny national park will not affect current or future mines in the southwest part of the Khibiny range, since the zones of operating mining licenses, including the Partomchorr deposit, were considered when the national park’s boundaries were originally discussed and were not included within its borders. Development of the Partomchorr deposit is an important step for development in Murmansk region. The investment project aims to create new production capacity, adopt new technologies and, as a consequence, create jobs.
Implementation of any project presents political, economic and environmental difficulties, and the Murmansk regional Duma deputies are working hard to establish and improve a regional legislative framework that will prove crucial for successful project development and creation of favourable conditions for project participants. This legal framework should include tax laws, safe working environmental laws, and laws aimed at stimulating production, investment, innovation, and the attraction and training of highly skilled personnel. Our role is to maintain legislative support and effective cooperation between local, regional and federal authorities.
In December 2010, the Murmansk regional Duma adopted two regulatory acts, «On state support of investment activity in Murmansk region» and «On Murmansk region’s participation in public-private partnerships.» These acts are aimed at promoting investment activities in Murmansk region, creating a favourable climate for foreign and local investment and protecting the equal rights, interests and property of every entity involved in investment activities, regardless of the form of ownership or organizational and legal form.
Work is under way on the Murmansk region draft law «On tax privileges for investment or innovative activities in Murmansk region.» The law will regulate legal relationships in terms of tax privileges for entities involved in investment or innovative activities and government support for recipients in Murmansk region. Additionally, changes will be made to the Murmansk region law «On the corporate tax rate in Murmansk region for certain categories of ratepayers» and the Murmansk region law «On the corporate property tax.» The industrial districts law has also been in development since late 2010 and will be approved in 2011.
The environmental policy is a system of measures directed at the rational use, protection and renewal of natural resources. This policy is implemented both at the state level, through the establishment of legislative norms in the field of environment protection, and at the level of natural resource users, which commit to natural protection obligations when planning development strategies. We are very satisfied with NWPC’s willingness to preserve the unique nature of this land, which is reflected in the Partomchorr deposit development and the MPC construction design projects.
We also support NWPC’s initiative to create a working group for joint analysis of design decisions. This will help choose the best way to construct the mine and its infrastructure.
