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Svalbard is the Norwegian Arctic archipelago located about midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole.
Three large islands dominate the archipelago - the Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya. The largest settlement is Longyearbyen.
The Svalbard Treaty (1920) recognises Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard and the 1925 Svalbard Act makes Svalbard a full part of the Kingdom of Norway.
Coal mining is the main industry on the archipelago. In addition, research and tourism have developed rapidly over the last years.
Svalbard has a major Russian settlement based in the mining town of Barentsburg.
Svalbard in 2005 had a population of approximately 2,400 people, of which about 55% were Norwegians and 45% Russian, Ukrainian and Polish. Over the last years, natives from several other countries have moved to the area to engage in the international research projects.
Inefficient Russian spending at Svalbard
Barentsphoto.com
The Russian Accounts Chamber criticizes the Arktikugol coal company in Spitsbergen for having spent 2,17 billion RUB of federal transfers inefficiently.
The financial watchdog maintains that inspections show that the money which was allocated in the period 2006-2008 have not been spent efficiently, B-port.com reports with reference to information from the Accounts Chamber.
Viktor Kosourov says that the coal mining company has not elaborated any programme on more efficient management.
Representatives of Russian authorities have on several occasions over the last years stressed their intention to step up investments in the far northern archipelago, which is under Norwegian sovereignty. Among the planned projects are both fish processing and tourism.
