MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax) - Russia's Natural Resources Ministry will study the application that Denmark sent to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on Monday to expand its borders on the Arctic shelf.
"We will consider the fact that they [Denmark] have applied for such territories. We haven't seen the application itself in detail yet, because it was only published yesterday. In general, I'd like to say that an application is not yet the establishment of borders, because on one hand an application is supposed to be submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in order to substantiate the continental part," Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi told reporters.
He said that negotiations on the expansion of Arctic borders will not only be held with Denmark.
"We also have issues with Canada and with other Arctic countries. And the boundary lines between nations will be precisely established within the context of these agreements, discussions, negotiations," Donskoi said, adding that "this is work for more than one year."
He said that the Arctic is not developed but has great potential. "A region where people have not settled much yet, but considering climate change, taking into account the possibilities of engineering, technology might in future develop this region and create new opportunities for themselves and the future generation," Donskoi said.
In his report at a Russian Academy of Sciences meeting on the scientific and technical problems of Arctic development, the minister recalled that Russia is now completing the preparation of an application to expand its borders on the Arctic shelf and plans to send the materials to the UN commission in the first quarter of 2015. The Natural Resources Ministry hopes that the commission will review Russia's application during its summer session in July 2015.
The minister said that an expedition to the Arctic was concluded on October 28 as part of the preparation of the application. Surveys around the North Pole were conducted for the first time in August. These surveys are very important not only for determining the outer bounders of the shelf in the Arctic, but also for basic sciences in general, he said.
Denmark and Greenland submitted an application to expand their territorial rights in the Arctic to the UN commission on Monday, becoming the first to lay claims to the North Pole.
Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said scientific data show that Greenland's continental shelf is directly connected to structures on the floor of the Arctic Ocean, allowing his country to lay claim to 900,000 square km of territory north of Greenland's coast.
Russia plans to submit its application to expand its borders in the Arctic to the UN commission in the spring of 2015. Canada also plans to lay claims to this region, which is potentially rich in resources, in 2015.
According to international law, the North Pole and the surrounding region of the Arctic Ocean do not belong to any one country. However, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States have rights to a 370-km (200 nautical miles) exclusive economic zone along their coastlines.
The Arctic is believed to hold about 13% of the world's unexplored oil reserves and 30% of its unexplored gas.