Murmansk Region is located on the Kola Peninsula in the north-eastern part of European Russia. The region has coastlines on the Barents and White seas and borders on Norway and Finland in the west and Karelia in the south. Its generally accepted date of formation is May 28, 1938. Today, it is one of the largest, most economically developed regions of northern European Russia. It occupies an area of 144 900 km2 and extends 400 km from north to south and 500 km from west to east.
Murmansk Region is divided into 5 districts and includes 16 cities (13 cities under regional jurisdiction and 3 cities under district jurisdiction), 3 urban districts, 17 towns, and 23 rural administrations. It has a population of 1 048 000 people (956 000 urban residents and 83 000 rural residents); the population density is 7.2 people per km2. The average age of the region’s residents is 33. Russians make up 82.3% of the population; Ukrainians, 9%; Belarussians, 3.3%; and northern peoples, 0.2%. Kovdorsky and Pechenegsky districts are the most densely populated areas.
The regional centre is the city of Murmansk, located 1,967 km north of Moscow. It has a population of 399 000. Murmansk is Russia’s largest ice-free port and the main base for the country’s fishing industry.
The main industrial centres are Murmansk, Apatity, Kandalaksha, Monchegorsk, Kirovsk, Olenegorsk, and Severomorsk.
The region’s geographic location has determined the characteristics of its climate, weather, landscapes, and plant and animal life. The climate is temperate maritime in the south and relatively mild subarctic in the north due to the influence of winds from the warm Atlantic flow. Average January temperatures range from -8 °C in the north to -13 °C in the centre, and the corresponding average July temperatures range from +8 °C to +14 °C. Annual precipitation varies from 350 to 1000 mm (in mountainous areas). Polar days and nights are a feature of Murmansk Region. The vegetation period lasts from 80 to 130 days.
Murmansk Region has many swift-flowing rivers full of rapids like the Ponoi, Varzuga, Umba, Niva, and Tuloma and lakes such as Imandra, Umbozero, and Lovozero.
The vegetation consists of moss-lichen tundra in the north and forest tundra and northern taiga (pine, spruce, and birch) in the south. Soils are predominantly podzolic and boggy, with tundra soils in the north.
Mammals inhabiting the region include the wild reindeer, moose, wolverine, bear, marten, red and Arctic foxes, muskrat, mink, and ermine. Typical fish species are cod, perch, halibut, lancetfish, flounder, and herring. There are three nature reserves in the region: Kandalaksha, Lapland, and Pasvik.
The region ranks high in terms of economic mineral reserves. More than 60 large subsurface deposits of various minerals have already been discovered on the Kola Peninsula; and more than 30 kinds of economic minerals are currently being produced, the most valuable being phosphorus, titanium, iron, aluminium, copper, nickel, zirconium, and other rare metals. There are also sizable reserves of mica, raw ceramic and building materials, facing stone, and semiprecious and industrial stones.
Large oil and gas reservoirs have been discovered on the Barents Sea shelf, including the world-famous Shtokmanovskoe gas condensate field with gas reserves of more than 3.0 trillion m3. Development of this important field is expected to satisfy the gas requirements of all of northwestern Russia for many years. The presence of large mineral deposits has determined the fortunes of many cities and towns of Murmansk Region.
Murmansk Region is part of the Northern economic district. Its primary industrial sectors are mining (production and processing of apatite and nepheline ores; production and concentration of copper-nickel and iron ores), nonferrous metallurgy (copper, nickel, and cobalt smelting), fishing, and ship repair.
Murmansk Region generates 1.8% of the electricity in Russia. It is not only self-sufficient in electricity, 60% of which is generated at the Kola Nuclear Power Plant (Kolskaya AES), but also transmits power to Karelia and Finland. The power supply system comprises the nuclear power plant, 17 hydroelectric power plants, and 5 thermal power plants.
The region has its own agricultural industry, which partially solves the problem of supplying northerners with fresh food products. The most developed sectors are livestock (including reindeer) breeding and feed crop cultivation. Agricultural land occupies an area of 23 400 hectares, including 14 900 hectares sown under crops. Unfortunately, the climatic conditions in this polar region limit the potential of local agriculture, and average yields of crops like potatoes and vegetables are rather low.
The region’s favorable geographical location and large industrial base have influenced the development of all forms of transport. The existing land, air, and sea transportation connections maintain traditional economic ties with central Russia and promote the expansion of foreign cooperation. In addition, Murmansk Region has been actively developing as a center of international tourism since 1990.
The natural beauty of the Kola Peninsula, with its tundra and forest tundra zones, thousands of lakes and rivers, hills and mountains, and the Barents and White Sea coasts are of international tourist significance. The land of polar winters and the midnight sun appeals with its cultural and historical monuments of past centuries, the years of the Second World War, and the era of socialist construction. There are great opportunities here for salmon fishing, hunting, boating and hiking, mountain climbing, and alpine skiing.
HISTORY
The city of Murmansk was founded on October 4, 1916, and was initially called Romanov-on-Murman. As archive documents show, the Regional Palace of Culture built in the 1930s stands on the very site where the foundation of the future city was laid.
Although Murmansk Region was formed comparatively recently, the history of the development of the Kola Peninsula goes back to the 12th century to the time when the Pomorians-the descendents of Russian settlers-began to explore the White Sea coast.
The history of this remarkable territory is associated with the name Semen Korzhnev, who (as documents in the museum of local history show) was one of the first to explore this harsh region. Out of gratitude to this early explorer and fellow countryman, city residents have immortalized him by naming a harbour, shoal, and lake after him.
The Kola Peninsula did not originally have administrative status but was a district of Arkhangelsk Province. It was only later that it became relatively independent. Under Soviet rule, Murmansk Region was a district of Leningrad Region until May 28, 1938, when the Kola Peninsula received the right of independence. The region has kept this status ever since. During this time, at the cost of inhuman labour, this polar land has been transformed from barracks and wooden wharfs to one of the most beautiful northern regions with a population that has grown from a few tens of thousands to over one million.
The difficult but heroic years of formation are entered in the historical chronicle of Murmansk territory. Murmansk faced its severest trials during the Second World War between 1941 and 1945. According to war veterans, it was an absolute hell where, by all military or civilian notions, nothing could have survived: steel and stones melted, but the people stood fast.
This is a land of unforgettable front-line heroes who staunchly defended their homeland from the fascists. Every square and every corner here is a living testament to courage incised in marble, granite, and bronze memorials and monuments.
The valour and courage of the northerners were commemorated with a medal “For Defence of the Soviet Union” and the name of hero city, even though the traces of that merciless war had long since been erased, thanks to the diligence of the builders who had literally raised the city from the ashes and ruins. The memorials erected in honour of the heroes who defended the city on land and sea and in the air will remind many generations to come of those long-ago, terrible days of the Great Patriotic War [as the Second World War is called in Russia].
The history of Murmansk would not be complete without separate mention of the founding and development of Murmansk’s Order of Lenin Fishing Port. Today, the port is a huge, modern, well-organized facility with sophisticated technology and a professional workforce of many thousands.
Like everything else built previously in the north, it began with a single peg and the first piles that the workers at Cape Varna drove in by hand in the frost and rain while wresting territory from the sea and constructing the first buildings with inhuman labour.
The fishing trawler fleet was formed and strengthened simultaneously the with construction of the port. A department of fisheries was set up in spring 1920 by a decision of the Arkhangelsk Provincial Executive Committee and the Revolutionary Committee. The first Soviet Russian fishing flotilla consisted of 12 aging trawlers. In 1927, it finally shifted its base to Murmansk. During the years of the first Five-Year Plan, the trawler fleet received 34 steam trawlers and 10 new diesel trawlers.
During the war, 46 ships of the trawler fleet became warships of the Northern Fleet. The rest continued to catch fish where fierce naval battles were going on. In three years of war, the fleet gave the country 85 000 tons of fish, 3.6 million tins of canned fish, and other products. Many tons of food, including 7500 kg of fish oil, were sent to blockaded Leningrad alone. That was a real feat!
The second stage of Murmansk’s history began in the years of socialism. The city’s rapid growth was unparalleled even in a time of great accomplishments. “The city is being built on the bleak shore of the Arctic Ocean, on granite rocks that in places have already been ground into sand by the movement of ice and time,” wrote Maxim Gorky, who visited the site. “Even so, people are building an entire city at one stroke…. In Murmansk, you get a real feeling of the grand scale of state construction.”
Today, the newly built-up city no longer fits into the broad space on Kola Bay. Streets climb up hills where not long ago city residents gathered mushrooms and berries.
Modern-day Murmansk, this white-stone northern city with soaring gulls that embodies the past glory of the fleet, attracts like a magnet. As before, it stands on the shore, thrusting out into the boundless sea, one of Russia’s most beautiful northern cities, an important centre of Russian oceanography, and a large modern industrial and cultural center.
RESOURCES
Murmansk Region’s natural resources are the basis of an industrial and production potential that makes it a strategically important area of the Russian Federation. Abundant natural resources, a large industrial complex of companies and organizations involved in producing and processing economic minerals and fish and forest resources determine the region’s place in the Russian economy.
The forests of Murmansk Region are the most northerly forests in European Russia. Forest areas occupy 65.5% of the region’s territory, although the northern part is mainly tundra and the southern part is in the taiga zone, so that only 34.3% of the region is actually covered with forest and it is very unevenly distributed. Reserve and productivity figures are not very high either.
The height of the spruce and pine in the northern taiga is usually no more than 20 m and is even less for birch. There are no thick, shady forests here; the trees grow sparsely and their tops rarely interlock, so that sunlight freely passes through to the ground. The northern spruce is distinguished by a tall narrow crown resembling an obelisk and lower branches that reach to the ground, forming a kind of tent used as a shelter by various animals from lemmings to bears and even wild boars. The well-lit soil is covered with a dense evergreen mat woven of mosses, lichens, berry bushes (bilberry, blueberry, and lingonberry), and other plants. Mushrooms and berries are plentiful in these forests in the fall. In winter, the land is covered with an even layer of snow about a meter thick, with snow-covered spruces sticking up like marble columns. Life slows almost to a standstill in this season; small animals live on the ground under the snow, moose and deer spend the winter in coniferous forests and on the mountain tundra where there is less snow, most birds have flown south, and grouse bury themselves in the snow as soon as they have fed.
The severe climatic and growing conditions and the poorness and lack of warmth of the soils are responsible for the low productivity of the forests in Murmansk Region. Stands with a growth of 0.4 m3 per hectare and total average reserves of 40 m3 per hectare predominate. There is a noticeable decrease in productivity from south to north. The forest utilization rate in the region in recent years for all forms of logging has ranged from 0.16-0.34 m3 per hectare depending on forest type.
Extensive exploitation of natural resources (including forest resources) in northern Russia in the past, compounded by a low rate of resource development, is responsible for the present low level of timber utilization. Drawing timber more fully into economic turnover is an important means of increasing the productive potential of the region’s forest industry complex.
Khibiny (meaning “mountains” in the Saami language) is an intrusive massif on the Kola Peninsula composed mainly of nepheline syenites with associated apatite and nepheline deposits. The highest point is Mt. Chasnachorr (elevation 1191 m). The peaks are plateau-like, and there are glaciers and snowfields on the slopes; avalanches are frequent. Mountain tundra predominates in Khibiny, and coniferous forests and elfin birch woods grow at the foot of the massif. The Polar Alpine Botanical Garden is located on Mt. Vudevrochorr.
The Ponoi is the largest river in Murmansk Region. It is 426 km long, and its basin covers an area of 15 500 km2. The Ponoi River has its source in the western part of the Keivy Uplands and flows into the White Sea. The upper and middle courses flow across a hilly, boggy plain. Then just below the mouth of the Purnach River, it flows in a canyonlike valley and there are many rapids in the lower part. The river is frozen over from November to May or June. It is floatable.
The Tuloma River is 64 km long, and its basin occupies an area of 21 500 km2. The Tuloma flows out of Notozero Lake and empties into Kola Bay on the Barents Sea. The river is floatable, although there are rapids. The average discharge rate in the lower reaches is 221 m3/s. There are more than 500 lakes within the river basin. The Upper Tuloma (Verkhnetulomskaya) and Lower Tuloma (Nizhnetulomskaya) hydroelectric power plants are located on the Tuloma.
The Niva is a small river only 36 km long with a 12 800-km2 basin. It flows out of Imandra Lake and empties into the Gulf of Kandalaksha on the White Sea. The river connects lakes Imandra, Pinozero, and Plesozero. The average discharge rate in the lower reaches is 165 m3/s. The Niva is floatable, and three hydroelectric power stations are located on it. The city of Kandalaksha is located at its mouth.
Imandra Lake (the source of the Niva River) is located in the southwestern part of the Kola Peninsula. It has a surface area of 812 km2 and a maximum depth of 67 m. Twenty streams flow into it, forming a complex lake and river system.
The lake basin is of glacial-tectonic origin. The eastern shore is relatively smooth, but the western shore has many bays (inlets). There are more than 140 islands on Imandra Lake, the largest of which is Erm Island. The lake is frozen over from December to May. Imandra Lake is noted for its clarity (visibility down to 11 m). Fish like whitefish, grayling, and loach are abundant. As a result of the construction of a dam for the Niva hydroelectric power plants 1936, Imandra Lake became a reservoir. The city of Monchegorsk is located on its northwestern shore.
Lovozero Lake is located on the Kola Peninsula. It has a surface area of 200 km2 and a maximum depth of 35 m. The lake is fed by streams originating on the slopes of Lovozero tundra bordering the lake on the west; the Voronya River flows out of it. The lake was turned into a reservoir following the construction of the Serebryansk Hydroelectric Power Plant (Serebryanskaya GES) on the Voronya River in 1970.
Fishing grounds in Murmansk Region include a 6800-km2 area of the Barents and White seas, 3300 rivers with a total length of more than 37 000 km, 111 500 lakes with a total area of 742 000 hectares, and 10 reservoirs with a total area of 2800 km2.
Twenty of the 114 species of fish inhabiting the Barents Sea are of commercial importance. The best known of these are cod, haddock, redfish, halibut, flounder, lancetfish, capelin, herring, pollock, Arctic cod, salmon, and navaga [a member of the cod family]. In terms of potential, the Barents Sea is second only to the seas of the Far East.
The most valuable resource of the rivers of Murmansk Region is salmon, whose stocks have been seriously depleted in other parts of northeastern Russia.
The subsurface of the Kola Peninsula has an abundance of various minerals numbering up to one-quarter of all chemical elements on the planet. Among them are copper, iron, nickel, cobalt, titanium, rare metals, ceramic raw materials, mica, and precious stones.
The minerals of the Khibiny apatite and nepheline ores, with annual production of tens of millions of tons, are the region’s most important economic minerals. A large part of the nearly 200 kg of ore mined annually per capita in Russia consists of apatite and nepheline. Three-quarters of the phosphate fertilizer in Russia is manufactured from apatite concentrate from the Khibiny deposits.
Nepheline, the other component of the Khibin ores, is equally useful and economically important. Soda and potash are some of the main products of the chemical industry. Enormous quantities of soda are also used to produce alumina from bauxite and in making glass; along with quartz sand, it is one of the basic materials used in the glass industry.
The Kola Peninsula also has large reserves of precious stones, the most important of which are amazonite and amethyst. Hundreds of millions of years ago, crusts [known as “druses”, meaning crusts of projecting crystals lining rock cavities] of variously coloured quartz, fluorite, barite, calcite, and other minerals formed on the walls of tectonic cracks surrounding the Kola Peninsula.
The most interesting of these are the quartz crystal druses-smoky quartz, black quartz, and especially amethyst, which is noted for its wide range of colours from soft lilac to rich dark violet. Amethyst is classified as a gem-quality mineral; it is often found in nature in the form of separate, sometimes large-sized crystals. However, amethyst deposits in the form of crystalline bunches are extremely rare in nature. The largest and best known deposits of this type are located on the Kola Peninsula.
Murmansk Region has virtually unlimited reserves of building stone and sand and gravel materials. Building stone reserves for making crushed rock amount to 125.2 million m3; and reserves of sand-gravel-boulder material, to 82.9 million m3.
The Shtokmanovskoe gas condensate field discovered on the Barents Sea shelf will be of prime importance in supplying the Russian economy with these hydrocarbons in the near future. The field is located at depths of 280-380m in the central part of the shelf in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea 290 km west of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago and 650 km from the port of Murmansk. In terms of gas reserves, the field is considered unique. Most of the reserves (93%) are concentrated in two reservoirs. The explored and estimated gas and condensate reserves have been studied to the extent that they are ready for commercial development. Local, highly prospective structures with total estimated geological gas reserves of nearly 3 trillion m3 have been discovered in the field, forming a basis for building up commercial hydrocarbon reserves and further expansion of gas production in the region.
Calculations performed by the All-Russian Offshore Oil and Gas Research and Design Institute (VNIPI Morneftegaz) have determined an optimal production scenario of 50 billion m3 of gas per year, stable gas production for 20 years, and payback of capital investments within 13-15 years from the start of construction of the gas field surface facilities and 5-7 years from the start of gas production. A gas pipeline route is being planned from the town of Teriberka (as an option) through Murmansk Region, the Republic of Karelia, and Leningrad Region with an outlet to Russia’s central gas pipelines.
Total potential geological hydrocarbon resources on the Barents Sea shelf are estimated at 31.2 billion tons of equivalent fuel, of which 18.9 billion tons are recoverable. About 30-40% of the reserves consist of oil, offering the prospect of annual production of up to 40 million tons in 2010.
ECONOMY
The economy of Murmansk Region is oriented towards natural resource use. According to scientists who study the subsurface deposits of the Kola Peninsula, the region is a global reserve of commercial minerals. According to the most recent data, the region produces 100% of the apatite in Russia, 12% of the iron ore concentrate, 14% of the refined copper, 43% of the nickel, and 14% of the edible fish products. Industrial companies generate 90% of the surplus product in the area of material production.
The region’s industry is also oriented towards primary production. The mining complex forms the region’s industrial base and includes companies in the mining, chemical, nonferrous and ferrous metallurgy, and building material sectors. Nonferrous metallurgy ranks first in the industrial structure (30.9%), followed by the power industry (20.9%), the food industry, including the fishing industry (19.8%), and the chemical industry (11.9%).
The region’s largest industrial companies are Northern Nickel (Severonikel) in Monchegorsk (nickel and other nonferrous ores), Pechenga Nickel (Pechenganikel) in Zapolyarny (refined copper, nickel, cobalt, and sulfuric acid), Kandalaksha Aluminum Smelter (KAZ; primary aluminum), Olenegorsk Mining and Processing Complex (Olkon), Kovdor Mining and Processing Complex (Kovdorsky GOK; iron ore concentrate), Apatit in Kirovsk (apatite concentrate), the Murmanrybprom Production Association (PO Murmanrybprom; fishing, fish processing and sales), the Nerpa Shipyard (sudoremontny zavod Nerpa) in Murmansk, the Kola Nuclear Power Plant, Kolenergo, and three fishing fleets, including the Murmansk Trawler Fleet (Murmansky tralovy flot; the largest fleet in the sector). Severonikel and Pechenganikel are owned by the Norilsk Nickel Corporation.
Murmansk Region has a well-developed transportation network consisting of 1012.7 km of railways and 4159 km of highways. Murmansk, Apatity, Olenegorsk, and Kandalaksha are important railway junctions. The port of Murmansk is Russia’s largest ice-free commercial port above the Arctic Circle; it serves as a base for cargo shipments to the Far North, the Arctic, and abroad. The port has a productive capacity of 12 million tons of cargo per year. The Murmansk Shipping Company (Murmanskoe morskoe parokhodstvo) handles cargo and passenger transport. The company also owns a number of multi-purpose nuclear-powered icebreakers that are based in Murmansk.
The region has two large airports: Murmansk in the town of Murmashi and Khibiny in Apatity. Murmansk Airport handles international flights on the Murmansk-Kirkenes (Norway), Murmansk-Tromso (Norway), and Murmansk-Rovaniemi (Finland)-Lulea (Sweden) routes. It is anticipated that an international air traffic center will be set up on the basis of Murmansk Airlines in the near future.
For foreign investors, the opening of the Northern Sea Route to foreign ships and the prospects of expanding through cargo traffic between Western European ports and ports in Southeast Asian countries and Japan are potentially important factors in increasing their interest in mutually beneficial cooperation.
Murmansk Region is one of 20 Russian regions that are large exporters of commercial products. Market reforms have enabled companies in the region to make active use of the opportunities offered by the world market.
The primary exports are nonferrous metals (51.6%), apatite concentrate (18.5%), and fish products. Services comprise 9.5% of all export shipments; 85.5% of these services are transport services.
Companies in Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, and Switzerland are the main consumers of export commodities. The majority of imports come from Norway, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
The region’s largest investment projects include reconstruction and upgrading of the port of Murmansk and the Pechenga Nickel plant; construction of an oil and gas terminal in Pechenga Bay and development of the corresponding infrastructure; reconstruction and upgrading of Murmashi International Airport; upgrading and expansion of the Kandalaksha Aluminum Smelter; production of ferrite and strontium powders and magnets; and scrapping of obsolete ships and nuclear submarines.
AUTHORITIES
Under the Charter of Murmansk Region, the Administration of Murmansk Region is the highest executive body. The Administration’s powers include organizing and administering the region and drafting the budget and development programs. By representing the interests of the region’s population, the Administration assumes the responsibility for solving existing problems and shows its concern for the welfare of the entire region. Above all, this means solving the following problems: increasing the budget; increasing domestic and foreign investments; supporting programs and projects with fast payback of investments; protecting the interests of regional producers; promoting the output of competitive products; developing new markets; creating the conditions for effective employment of the population, thus curbing the growth of unemployment and creating new jobs; maintaining and developing the region’s support systems; and preserving the social infrastructure.
The Administration’s highest official is the Governor, who is elected by citizens of the Russian Federation living in Murmansk Region and having the right to vote. The governor is elected for a four-year term in accordance with the law of Murmansk Region on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot. Within the bounds of his authority, the governor has the right to issue decrees and orders that must not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation or the Charter and laws of Murmansk Region.
The Murmansk Regional Duma is the region’s standing legislative body.
The 25 deputies of the Regional Duma exercise direct legislative (representative) authority in Murmansk Region. They are elected for a four-year term.
TOURISM
If you prefer a change of scenery and contrast and have a taste for exotic countries, golden beaches, warm seas, fashionable stores, and five-star hotels, then for something different, come and see the Russian North-Murmansk Region to be exact. Your attitude will change once and for all after your visit.
The tundra will make an indelible impression on you. It is not only rich in mineral resources; it is also poetically beautiful. The first summer days on the tundra are astounding for their sudden flood of greenery, their “explosion” of flowers, and the suddenness of the change from the long winter to blooming summer that seems to bypass spring. During the short summer, the tundra dazzles with the rare beauty of bright flowers set off against a background of berry bushes like cloudberry, cranberry, lingonberry, and bilberry.
Elfin forests no longer found anywhere else remind you of a fairy-tale land from childhood. The sun here is also amazing; it is always low on the horizon, and for most of the day, the sky is magically tinted with the colors of dawn: rose, pale yellow, silver-lilac, all of them reflected again in countless rivers, streams, and lakes. Local residents are literally in love with the tundra, forests, seas, rivers, lakes, and mountains that surround them.
There are not many tourists who can say they have visited Khibiny or seen the ice-free seas, hills, northern lights with their own eyes; taken part in the All-Russian ski marathon; gone for a ride in a reindeer-drawn sleigh; watched the amazing sports show “Northern Holiday”; visited a nonferrous rock museum; visited parks where you can see moose, lemmings, bears, foxes, wolverines, and snowy owls; or strolled through botanical gardens with exotic trees and shrubs.
If you are interested in the region’s history, then the sights of the Polar capital, Murmansk, that bear witness to its heroic past and present are waiting for you. Tour guides will acquaint you with the cultural heritage of Murmansk land and its traditions and customs. They will tell you about the folklore of the people of the European North, distinguished for the richness and originality of its epic tales, northern heroic poems (byliny), hunting stories, and old Pomorian songs. The hospitable people of Murmansk will treat you to fish pies, “pockets” (kalitki) with tvorog and potatoes, cheese tarts, cakes, and bliny. Visitors to the city can stay in comfortable hotels and relax in restaurants and nightclubs.
International tourism is very important for Murmansk Region. The region’s closeness to Finland, Norway, and Sweden, which have a positive image on the European tourist market, make it possible to organize activities within the framework of projects such as “Murmansk Corridor”, “Barents Zone”, and “Barents Route”, e.g., one-day cross-border hikes, safaris, ski races through three countries, and visits to historical and cultural monuments. The transportation, communications, and other infrastructure between Central Europe and Scandinavia provide an excellent means for companies in Murmansk to develop ties with tourist organizations on the European market. Tourism in northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway can add significantly to the tourist potential of Murmansk Region. This is a great advantage, because joint international projects will help Russia obtain economic support in the European community.
Source: Official Site of Murmansk Region