The 36th session of the Norilsk City Council completed its work. Parliamentarians made decisions on 15 issues, including adjusting the territory’s budget for 2026 for the second time.
The director for interaction with authorities and employers' associations of the Siberian Federal District of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), Andrei Grachev, also took part in the work of the Norilsk police department today. He made a report on the main problems of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and ways to solve them.
As the speaker said, today in Russia no one needs to prove the need for the development of the Arctic, because the contribution of this region, where only 2.4 million inhabitants live, to the country’s GDP is 9%. The mineral resource base is also impressive: 99% of Russian apatites, 95% of platinum group metals, 75% of nickel, 10% of oil, 83% of gas and 20% of commercial fish. All this suggests that the Arctic is important not only economically, but also strategically, says Andrei Grachev.
Having personally toured most of the Arctic zone of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and talked with residents of the territories, he noted that the problems of the northern lands are in many ways similar to other regions of the country: difficulties in repairing roads, residential buildings, engineering structures, construction of social facilities, removal of solid household waste, high tariffs for utilities, quality of drinking water.
But there are also issues that are unique to the Arctic regions: personnel inequality – currently, staffing in the Arctic is carried out on a residual basis, since for obvious reasons people prefer to work in the European part of the country; digital inequality – there are still Arctic territories where there is no stable Internet, this largely hinders the socio-economic development of populated areas; ecology and permafrost – undoubtedly, it is necessary to develop industry in the Arctic with strict adherence to legislation in the field of environmental management, and simply geomonitoring the state of permafrost is not enough – to preserve it, effective measures must be taken; energy imbalance – high cost of electricity in the Arctic zone; indigenous peoples – it is important to preserve their national culture and languages.
All these problems need to be solved at the state level, Grachev is convinced. A number of federal laws and measures to support the Arctic territories of Russia have already been adopted: a list of support settlements in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and master plans for Arctic cities have been approved; the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan for the Social and Economic Development of Norilsk until 2035 continues; the Northern Sea Route is developing; The birth rate increases. However, according to Andrei Grachev, without the adoption of a federal law on preferential treatment for the territories of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, a comprehensive solution to problems is impossible. It is this document that all interested parties are currently working on.
“Thus, the question of the need for the Arctic for the country is not now raised. There will be a north! But the issue of developing the Arctic is still very pressing. We must develop it systematically, progressively, using the best practices of public-private partnerships. We proceed from the task set by our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin – in terms of the level and quality of life, the Arctic territories should be brought to national indicators. And this, colleagues, is what we must and will put at the forefront of our joint work,” concluded Andrei Grachev.
After discussing Andrei Grachev’s report, the people’s representatives heard information on the execution of the Norilsk budget for 2025 (in terms of income it was fulfilled by 98.8%, in terms of expenses by 94%), and also approved an adjustment to the 2026 budget. As reported, in terms of municipal programs, it was considered at meetings of specialized commissions. Changes are being made to 17 municipal programs, and the main parameters of the Norilsk budget for 2026 after adjustment are as follows:
- income – 31 billion 680.9 million rubles (increase by 1 billion 555.8 million rubles);
- expenses – 35 billion 253.4 million rubles (increase by 1 billion 555.8 million rubles);
- deficit – 3 billion 572.5 million rubles (no changes).
“Despite the significant budget deficit, we manage to maintain stable funding for priority areas of work – social security for citizens and the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan activities. Of course, this is not the last budget adjustment, because in such difficult financial and economic conditions, the municipality quickly responds to changes in the current situation,” commented the speaker of the Norilsk parliament, Alexander Pestryakov, on the decision.
Also during today's session, deputies made changes to a number of existing regulatory documents in order to bring them into compliance with current legislation.
