Russian president to take part in Arctic forum in Salekhard September 25

Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 25 will take part in the third international forum The Arctic - Territory of Dialogue, which will be held in Salekhard, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters. “The first such forum was held in Moscow in September 2010, the second - in Arkhangelsk in 2011,” recalled Ushakov. The main theme of the current forum will be environmental security. The forum participants will discuss possible scenarios of climate change in the Arctic, the current level of pollution, the impact of its industrial development on indigenous peoples and a number of other issues. Taking part in the third international Arctic forum will also be President of Finland Sauli Niinist·, President of Iceland Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and others. The Salekhard forum participants are expected to exchange views on how to combine the efforts of states, the scientific community and businesses in addressing issues of conservation of the Arctic environment and the environmental consequences of growing economic activity and global climate change. “Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with the president of Iceland on the sidelines of the forum,” Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters. The two presidents will discuss topical issues of Russian- Icelandic cooperation, especially in the trade and economic sphere, as well as the two countries’ approaches to the development of cooperation in the Arctic region. In the first half of 2013, the trade turnover between Russia and Iceland increased by 15.6 percent. The accumulated Icelandic investment in the Russian economy is 15.2 million US dollars. Geothermal energy is a promising sphere of ·· cooperation with Iceland. The two sides are considering the possibility of construction of power plants that would work on renewable energy sources in the Russian Far East.