ARKHANGELSK, August 14. /TASS/. The Nenets Autonomous Region will develop in the region a system of personnel training for the oil production sector, the region's Governor Irina Gekht said at the 4th Arctic - Regions Forum in Arkhangelsk.

"In my opinion, we need to develop first of all our strong aspects," she said at the forum's plenary session. "The Nenets Autonomous Region's strong side is precisely […] the growth of the oil and gas production sector, the increase in traffic and the associated development of transport and other infrastructures. One of our most important tasks is to attract to this work local specialists as much as possible. We have been solving this problem. This year, together with Lukoil, we are opening a specialized class. We will work with our colleges under the Professionalism program. We must clearly and consciously train young people so that they work within the region. This is one of the ways to keep young people here."

The oil and gas production sector is one of the most knowledge-intensive, industrially complex and rich in modern technologies areas, she continued. For the Nenets Autonomous Region, this is the main sector of the economy.

"I believe it is a weird situation when a young person born in the Nenets Autonomous Region, in the oil region, where ports, roads, and big infrastructure projects will be built, is forced to leave for Moscow or St. Petersburg to work there in the services market, for example. Why would a young man from Naryan-Mar prefer to leave to work as a waiter in a St. Petersburg cafe when here he has the opportunity to get involved in truly big, landmark projects," she added.

Noteworthy, the oil and gas industry is not just an enterprise that was built once and for good, and then it simply produces one and the same product, the governor continued. Work in this field requires a wide range of competencies.

Besides that, people working in the oil and gas sector need to be fed, transported, treated, their work needs to be ensured, and infrastructures and services need to be created. According to the governor, this will build up, among other things, the region's social base, like, for example, the Nenets Regional Hospital.

Attracting personnel

The region's another growth area is transportation along the Northern Sea Route, which requires land infrastructures, and their creation will attract people to the region. "In this case, our task as the government is to provide appropriate social infrastructures. At a certain point, one cultural and business center - the Arctic - will no longer be enough - and quite likely we would want to have a theater here. The Nenets Regional Hospital will require a thorough equipment upgrade. Importantly, we already have a good base of Arctic medicine and a strong team, and we have the base on which to build the further development. We will need new schools, new teachers, who we need to attract to the region from the mainland," the governor said.

People may go to the North also for higher incomes, the continued. The climate in the Nenets Autonomous Region is harsh, thus in addition to high incomes there should be other advantages, including a comfortable living environment. "Therefore, I believe that the development of oil and gas industrial projects, and further on - of others, including ore projects, is the natural way to develop the region. As we have the railway, the port, the option to transport ore cargoes, we will see a growth of container shipments. The current traffic along the Northern Sea Route is incomparable with the amounts planned for the future. This development requires infrastructures. And infrastructures mean first of all people," the governor said in conclusion.

TASS is the forum's general information partner.