Source: Government of the Russian Federation - The representatives of eight countries are participating in the meeting: Russia, Canada, the USA, Dane, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.The Deputy Head EMERCOM of Russia Alexandr Chupriyan opened the meeting of the Working Group. He said that he was certain about the importance of the EPPR work and in the working meetings in particular, which allow exchanging information and make decisions about such important issues as providing safety for the people and territories of the whole arctic area. The Deputy Head of the Komi Republic I.A. Pozdeev and the Major of Vorkuta city V.L. Budovskiy greeted the members of the meeting.
During the first meeting the representatives of Canada and Finland made reports about the on-going activities of the Arctic Council. The agenda of the group was also announced.
The program of the forum includes the International seminar "Emergency response and the problems of radiation accidents overcoming in different regions", the meeting of the expert group on oil spill.
Nowadays, special attention is devoted to the Arctic territory development as 80 percent of mineral resources are concentrated there. Therefore, the ecological problems of the Arctic Region have become very acute. The Working groups' meetings of the Arctic Council take place annually. The assistance to the cooperation of the Arctic Region states, information exchange on the latest technological advances in the field of Arctic Area protection from natural and industrial disasters, constant development of the polar regions, rational mineral resources usage, emergency prevention and response is the task of prime importance.
