Rogozin: active development of Arctic shelf to cause conflict of interest, sabotage

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 28, 2013) Acts of sabotage against Russian facilities are possible in the Arctic shelf development rivalry, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said.

He presented several scenarios of external threats to Russia at a conference dedicated to an election article of President Vladimir Putin.

“Active development of the Arctic shelf will unavoidably lead to a conflict of interest between states aspiring for [shelf] resources. It is possible this conflict will exceed the diplomat limits,” the vice-premier said.

“It is also quite possible that Russian oil and gas production facilities may become targets of secret acts of sabotage by rival countries,” he added.

“We have to understand that saboteurs may not be directly linked to the ordering countries,” Rogozin remarked.

Both perpetrators and masterminds will have to be identified for retaliating against the attack and determining the retaliation scope, he stressed. “We will need contemporary means of monitoring capable of efficient operation in the air and water. We do not have the full set of such means so far,” Rogozin said.

“Busy traffic along the Northern Sea Route will not add to the Arctic tranquility either. NATO has long been discussing plans of reinforcement of a naval group under the pretext of commercial shipping security,” the vice-premier said.
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