Historic Treaty To Be Signed Tomorrow (Norway/Russia)

The Norwegian government will send its biggest delegation ever to Russia tomorrow. They'll sign a historic treaty. The agreement will devide a huge disputed territory, about half the size of Germany, in the Barents Sea, between Norway and Russia. Four decades of negotiations!



map illustration by NRK.no

Five Norwegian Ministers to Murmansk

2010-09-14


The Norwegian Government sends its biggest delegation ever to Russia for the political talks following the signing of the agreement on border delineation in the Barents Sea.

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The Treaty will be followed by agreements on joint Norwegian-Russian cooperation in the Barents Sea regarding fisheries, environmental safety and energy issues.

The Norwegian Government has hired two private aircrafts that will fly wing-by-wing from Oslo directly to Murmansk Wednesday morning.

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The agreement establishes the maritime boundary between Norway and Russia in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. It also includes provisions on the continuation of fisheries cooperation and cooperation on the management of any oil and gas deposits that extend across the delimitation line

Norway, Russia to sign final Arctic border deal

In April, Stoltenberg and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an initial agreement on the border after four decades of negotiations, paving the way to open the potentially oil- and gas-rich region for offshore exploration.

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The disputed territory covered 175,000 square km (67,600 sq miles), an area about half the size of Germany, mainly in the Barents Sea between proven petroleum reserves on the Russian and Norwegian sides.

Let's hope that they are luckier with their mission than the Polish elite was in Smolensk. After this deal is signed, there will be lots of action in the Barents Sea. I hope the deal is fair. The Russians were showing off some muscles a few days ago.


Northern Fleet shows muscles in Barents Sea

2010-09-08


A large-scale military exercise involving several submarines, surface vessels, aviation and more than four thousand men is currently unfolding in the Barents Sea.

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The climax of the training will be the firing of more than ten cruise missiles on several targets

The treaty was signed today. The next step is to have it ratified by Stortinget and the Russian Duma.



Line of maritime delimitation
Norwegian Government


‘Historic’ Norwegian-Russian treaty signed in Murmansk

Wednesday, 15th September, 2010


“This is a historic milestone. The treaty resolves what for several decades remained the most important outstanding issue between Norway and Russia. We are pleased that we have now established the maritime boundary between Norway and Russia in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean,” said Prime Minister Stoltenberg.

The signed treaty marks the end of a long process that started in 1970 and is considered to be the most important historic event in Norwegian-Russian relations since 1945, when the Red Army left Finnmark.

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The deal will now have to be ratified by the Norwegian Parliament and Russian Duma

A Russian scientist believes that Norway will back out of the Shtokman project.


Russian expert: Norway will back out from Shtokman

2010-11-03


The agreement between Russian and Norway on delimitation of the Barents Sea will result in Norway concentrating on more easily accessible resources and withdrawing from the development of the Shtokman gas field, a Russian scientist believes.

Norway has used up all its rich resources, and sees the new area in the Barents Sea as godsend. If the country has got hold of new fields, why should it care about this risk-laden Shtokman?

Maybe they can do both?

Lately, Russian fishermen have also started to criticize the Norwegian-Russian agreement on delimitation of the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean, claiming that Norway now has far more to say in the management of the fish resources in the area, and that Russian fishermen are being forced out of the area.

That's great! More fish in the ocean for us.


Norway will force Russia out of fishing grounds – union leaders

2010-11-04


The agreement between Norway and Russia on delimitation of the Barents Sea will end in Russian fishermen being forced out of the most fish-rich areas in the Arctic, claim the leaders of two of Russia’s largest fishery bodies.

According to Zilanov, Russian fishermen catch 300-315 000 tons of fish in the western part of the Barents Sea annually, while the amount on the eastern side is only 210-215 000 tons. If Russian fishermen loose the opportunity to fish in this area, Russia will lose some RUB 1.5-2 billion (€34.5 billion) every year.

Zilanov believes that Norway will use different methods to gradually force Russian fishermen out of the western parts of the Barents Sea. If Norway forbids fishing with trawl in the area, it will have disastrous consequences for Russian fisheries, he said, since 95 percent of the catch is made by trawling, and only 5 percent by long-line. Norway uses trawl to catch only 30 percent of the fish.

More fish in the ocean...

The ratification of the border deal has been postponed.


Ratification of Barents Sea border deal postponed

2010-12-09


The Norwegian Storting has suddenly decided to delay the ratification of the Treaty concerning Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean until next year. The Russian Duma will also wait.

Ratification in Stortinget on Tuesday.


Ratification on Tuesday

2011-02-07


Stortinget, the Norwegian Parliament, will ratify the agreement with Russian on delimitation of the Barents Sea and Arctic Oceans.

The border deal with Norway is still not scheduled for ratification in the Russian State Duma.

Stortinget approved the maritime delimitation line unanimously. They now await the ratification in the Russian Duma, which is believed to come before spring.


Unanimously approved

The Norwegian Parliament voted unanimously in favor of the maritime delimitation line with Russia in the Barents Sea and Arctic Oceans.

The ratification in the Russian Duma is believed to come before spring. Prime Minster Vladimir Putin, normally a foot ahead of decisions in the Duma, has already praised the deal.

Time for ratification in Moscow.


Time for ratification in Moscow

Dmitri Medvedev sends the Treaty to the State Duma just two days after the Norwegian Parliament ratified the Barents Sea border deal.

The presidential package of documents pertaining to the Maritime Delimitation in the Barents Sea and Arctic Oceans was Thursday sent over to the Russian Parliament.

With the recommendations from President Medvedev, and earlier strong support from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, it is believed that the State Duma will ratify the Treaty sometime soon.

The treaty is in force now.


Barents border treaty in force now

2011-07-07


Both Norway and Russian can from today start mapping the hydrocarbon potential of the delimited waters in the Barents Sea. A Norwegian seismic vessel is already on its way to the area.

On the seventh of July, the forty years of unsettled border relations in the Barents Sea have come to an end.