Business programme

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the most important transport route that links the vast expanses of Russia’s Arctic territories, and it is also a natural transport corridor between Asia and Europe. The development of the NSR could become a comprehensive solution to several economic, demographic, social, and political challenges facing Russia’s northern regions and the country as a whole. At the same time, however, the NSR faces numerous objective obstacles, from severe weather to the lack of essential technologies and experience. The Russian president has set the goal of ensuring the year-round use of the NSR as a transport corridor of global importance. Given the pressure from sanctions and the destruction of existing logistics and cooperative ties, the NSR could offer a new window of opportunity for the development of Russian territories and also strengthen partnerships with friendly countries. Starting from 2022, vessels are scheduled to make at least two subsidized coastal round trips from St. Petersburg (Murmansk) to the ports of the Far East. Establishing preferential tariffs that make it possible to compete with the relevant tariffs for other modes of transport will make the transportation of goods via the NSR economically viable and popular among shippers, which will also help solve problems related to the shipment of goods in the north and create an image of the NSR as a reliable transport artery. Based on the test operation of the coastal line in 2022–2024, Russia plans to switch to a regular line with more frequent trips and increase the number of ports that are involved in the NSR. What impact does the NSR have on the economy of the Russian Arctic? Given the new geopolitical and economic circumstances, is it realistic to achieve the goal of transporting 80 million tonnes of cargo via the NSR by the end of 2024? What is needed to ensure year-round and safe navigation?

Moderator
Andrey Sokolov, Deputy Director General, Russian News Agency TASS

Andrey Sokolov

Deputy Director General, Russian News Agency TASS

Andrei Sokolov was born on February 15, 1976 in Mytishchi, Moscow Region. 1997: graduated from the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics in marketing. 2001 to 2014: worked at the Ministry of the Economic Development of the Russian Federation.2014 to 2015: worked at the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Crimean Affairs.Since December 2015: Assistant General Director of the TASS news agency. Has been involved in the develoment and implementation of the following programmes: Government programme of the Russian Federation “Socioeconomic develoment of the Far East and the Baikal Region”; Government programme of the Russian Federation “Development of the North Caucasus Federal District” for the period up to 2025; Government programme “Accessible environment” for the period from 2011 to 2015; Federal target programme “Economic and social development of the Far East and the Baikal Region for the period up to 2018’; Federal target programme “Socioeconomic develoment of the Kuril Islands (Sakhalin Region) from 2016 to 2025”; Federal target programme “Socioeconomic development of the Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol up to 2020”; Federal target programme “Development of physical culture and sports in the Russian Federation from 2016 to 2020”; Federal target programme “Development of domestic and inbound tourism in the Russian Federation (2011 to 2018)”; Awards: Honourary Certificate of the Ministry for Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation (2004), Honourary Certificate of the Government of the Russian Federation (2009), award pin “For merit” (2011) and others.

Panellists
Evgeniy Ambrosov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, NOVATEK
Viktor Evtukhov, State Secretary – Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation
Sergei Ivanov, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport
Alexey Likhachev, Director General, State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM
Alexey Rakhmanov, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, United Shipbuilding Corporation
Alexander Tsybulskiy, Governor of Arkhangelsk Region
Alexey Chekunkov, Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic
Andrey Chibis, Governor of Murmansk Region
Alexander Chupriyan, First Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters

Evgeniy Ambrosov

Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, NOVATEK

Born on 23 July, 1957 in Vladivostok in the FESCO Captain’s family.
Education:
Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University, specialising in Maritime Navigation;
Career:
1979 - 1997: Cargo Officer on board the liner vessels of the Far-Eastern Shipping Company. At the Company head office he started as Manager at Chartering Department and later was upgraded to the Head of Fleet Operation Department;
1997 - 2000: Vice-President, Head of Fleet Operation Department, OAO Far-Eastern Shipping Company;
2000 - 2002: Senior Vice-President, OAO Sovcomflot;
2002 - 2007: President, OAO Far-Eastern Shipping Company;
2008 - 2009: President and CEO, FESCO Transportation Group;
Since 2009: Senior Executive Vice-President, PAO Sovcomflot.
Member of the Expert Council affiliated to the government of Russian Federation, working group "Development of Arctic and Northern Sea Route" (Экспертный совет при Правительстве РФ, рабочая группа "Развитие Арктики и Северного морского пути").
Arctic Economic Council – Vice Chairman, Member of the Executive Committee.

Viktor Evtukhov

State Secretary – Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation

Education:
1993 – Leningrad Finance and Economics Institute with a major in economic cybernetics.
2002 – Saint Petersburg State University, Faculty of Law.
2004 – Master’s degree from Saint Petersburg State University, Faculty of International Relations.
2003 – Defended his post-graduate dissertation and granted the degree of candidate of economic sciences.
2008 – International Management Institute of St Petersburg (IMISP) under the Masters of Business Administration programme.
Professional experience:
1998 – Elected deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg (second convocation) for the 33rd Electoral District (Moskovsky District) and was twice re-elected in 2002 and 2007.
2009 – Appointed member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation – Representative in the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation from the Government of St. Petersburg; representative of Saint Petersburg State University in the government and administrative bodies of the Russian Federation.
2011 – Appointed Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation.
2012 – Appointed Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
2014 – Appointed State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation under an order of the Government of the Russian Federation.

Sergei Ivanov

Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport

Born on 31 January in Leningrad. Graduated from the Translation Department of the Faculty of Philology of Leningrad State University and then completed higher courses of the USSR KGB in Minsk.
1981-1998 – Worked his way up from an operations officer of the First Main Directorate of the USSR KGB to First Deputy Head of a directorate of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation. Had three extended overseas assignments in Nordic countries and Africa. Following the reorganisation of the KGB, he continued work in the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation and then in the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation.
August 1998 – Deputy Director of the FSB and Director of the FSB Department for Analysis, Forecasting and Strategic Planning.
15 November 1999 – Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Colonel General in reserve.
28 March 2001 – Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation.
14 November 2005 – Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation.
16 February 2007 – Appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
12 May 2008 – Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
22 December 2011 – Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration.
12 August 2016 - Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport.
Speaks English and Swedish.
Married with one son.

Alexey Likhachev

Director General, State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM

Alexey Likhachev is Director General of ROSATOM. He assumed office in October 2016. Mr. Likhachev has since been responsible for overseeing the entire spectrum of the state corporation’s activities.
Before joining ROSATOM, Mr. Likhachev worked in the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, where he held a wide variety of leadership positions. He joined the ministry in 2007. He worked as an advisor to the Minister of Economic Development until 2008, in 2010 he was appointed Deputy Minister, and in February 2015 he was promoted to the position of First Deputy Minister of Economic Development.
Throughout his career, Mr. Likhachev held senior positions in other governmental bodies and public organizations as well. He was a member of the State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliamentary body), serving as Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Economic Policy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (2000-2007). Previously, he worked as managing director of Social Industrial Insurance Company ‘Aval’ in Nizhniy Novgorod (1992-2000).
Mr. Likhachev graduated from Gorky State University and started his career as an engineer in the Gorky Research Institute of Instrumentation (1985-1987). In 1998 he graduated from the Economic Faculty of Nizhniy Novgorod State University with a Ph.D. in economics.

Alexey Rakhmanov

Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, United Shipbuilding Corporation

Alexey Rakhmanov was born on July 18, 1964. In 1986 he graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Polytechnic Institute with a degree in mechanical engineering. In 2003 he graduated from the School of Business at the University of Chicago with a degree of Master of Business Administration. In the early stages of his career, he held various positions in the public and private entities. In 1996 he joined international auditing and consulting firm Ernst & Young where he worked until 2002. Between 2002 and 2008 he served as Director for Strategy and Business Development at JSC Severstal-Auto. In July 2008 he was appointed Director of the Department of Automotive Industry and Agricultural Machinery at Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, and in March 2012 – Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade. Since June 2014 he has been President of the United Shipbuilding Corporation.
Alexey Rakhmanov is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the St. Petersburg State Marine Technical University (SPbSMTU), Chairman of the Shipbuilding Industry and Marine Equipment Committee of the Russian Engineering Union, Member of the Russian Engineering Union Management Board.

Alexander Tsybulskiy

Governor of Arkhangelsk Region

Born on July 15, 1979 in Moscow.
Education:
Graduated from the Military University attached to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in 2001.
Graduated from the Moscow Institute of International Business in 2006.
Fluent in English, Greek and French.
Work experience:
1996-2005: Military service.
2005-2008: Worked in various positions at the Department of Foreign Economic Relations, Ministry
of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation.
2008-2011: Worked in various positions аt the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation.
2011-2013: Director of the Department of International Relations and Development of Cross-Border Cooperation, Director of the Department for the Coordination of State Industry Programs, Ministry
of Regional Development of the Russian Federation.
2013-2014: Aide to the Minister, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Director of the Department for Interaction with Customs Union Authorities and Economic Cooperation with CIS Countries, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
2014-2017: Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
Since September 2017 - Acting Governor of Nenets Autonomous Area.
On October 1, 2018, assumed the post of Governor of the Nenets Autonomous Area.
From April 3, 2020 - Acting Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region.
From October 8, 2020 - Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region.

Alexey Chekunkov

Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic

Alexey Chekunkov has been the head of the Far East Development Fund since October, 2014.In 2013-2014 Alexey managed his own investment company PAMIR Capital before appointment to the position of the Far East Development Fund Chief Executive Officer. In 2011-2013 he worked as a Director, Member of the Management Board and Investment Committee in the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). Mr. Chekunkov was responsible for investments in healthcare, energy saving, raw materials sector as well as for establishing of the Russian-Chinese Investment Fund with 2 billion dollars capital. In 2009-2011 Alexey managed his own investment company New Nations Capital (venture capital investments, investment banking). In 2006-2009 he worked in the position of Managing Director in the investment company United Gold Company (UGC), being a part of Alfa-Group consortium.In 2003-2006 he was Vice-President in Delta Private Equity, one of the leading private equity companies in Russia, managing over 500 million dollars capital. He participated in a number of landmark deals including sale of Delta Bank, of TV channels STS and TV-3, of the National Cable Networks holding, of the company Compulink. In 2002-2003 Mr. Chekunkov took part in consolidation of gold-mining assets in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) as the Projects Director in the Investment Group Alrosa. On November 10, 2020, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was appointed Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic.

Andrey Chibis

Governor of Murmansk Region

Born 19 March 1979, in Cheboksary, Chuvash Republic.
1996–2001: studied Jurisprudence at the Moscow Consumer Cooperation University. 2001–2004: Lawyer (private law practice) 2004–2005: Advisor to the Governor of the Ryazan Region and later Head of the Expert Department at the Administration of the President of the Chuvash Republic.
2006–2007: Deputy Director of Construction Department, Head of Support Team for the national project Affordable Housing promoted by the Russian Ministry of Regional Development.
2007–2008: Head of the Directorate for Affordable Housing Market Development at the Federal Agency for Construction, Housing and Utilities. 2008–2011: Chairman of the Management Board, member of the Managing Committee, Director for Legal and Corporate Issues, RSS Plc.
From July 2009: Vice-President of the National Union of Water Utility. 2011–2012: Executive Director of the Socioeconomic and Political Research Institute Fund under the All-Russia People’s Front. Since October 2011: Executive Director of NP Development of Housing and Utilities. Since August 2012: member of the Advisory Panel under the Russian Government and Head of the Working Group for Development of Housing and Utilities under the Advisory Panel of the Russian Government. 6 December 2013: appointed to the position of Deputy Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities, Russian Federation. 1 October 2014: appointed Chief State Housing Inspector of Russia. December 2015: elected Bureau Member of the UNECE Committee on Housing and Land Management.
21 March 2019: Acting Governor of Murmansk Region

Front row participants
Sergey Dubovitskiy, Senior Vice President – Head of Strategy and Strategic Project Management, Logistics and Resources, Norilsk Nickel
Igor Milashevsky, Chief Executive Officer, GLONASS

Igor Milashevsky

Chief Executive Officer, GLONASS

Igor Milashevsky has been CEO of JSC GLONASS since July of 2018.
He is graduate of the Kiev Radio Engineering Higher School and postgraduate of the Ministry of Defense, PhD in Technical Sciences. He also graduated the Higher Business School of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of Russia – IEMI (European Institute of International Management, Paris), where he got an MBA diploma.
He worked as Advisor to the Minister of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, headed the Department of State Policy for Information Technologies and Informatization Coordination of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of Russia. He is also ex Minister of Transport and Communications of the Chechen Republic, member of the Government of the Chechen Republic. Before that, he worked as director of operations development service, commercial director, vice president for marketing and sales at VimpelCom JSC and subsidiaries of VimpelCom Group. He was awarded with a letter of acknowledgment by the President of the Russian Federation.