No plans in the making to set up ministry for Arctic affairs - Timakova
VLADIKAVKAZ. July 1 (Interfax) - The Russian government does not plan to set up a ministry for Arctic Affairs, the Russian prime minister's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said.
"No such plans are being contemplated. It's fiction," Timakova told reporters.
Media reports said on Tuesday that the government is weighing plans to set up a ministry for Arctic affairs to coordinate the development of Arctic territories.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta earlier reported that a ministry for Arctic security could be set up in Russia and that it could be headed by Artur Chilingarov, a senator and the Kremlin's special envoy for Arctic affairs.
"Development of the Arctic and Antarctic regions is a problem that needs to be tackled in a comprehensive manner. Not a ministry, but a state commission, led by the prime minister, should deal with it," Chilingarov told Interfax in remarks about these reports.