ARKHANGELSK (Sputnik) — In 2015, Russia submitted a revised bid to the United Nations, seeking to enlarge its share of the Arctic continental shelf, to include the Lomonosov Ridge, the Mendeleev Ridge and other continental elevations.
“Just recently the last session with a commission of a current composition took place. In summer, the elections for a new composition of commission will be conducted, the 44th session will begin in August. We will have to work with new members. Several countries have already nominated the specialists, some will remain from the previous commission,” Donskoi said.
Such extensive bids are usually reviewed for a period of five years, the minister added.
Russia has previously staked a claim to the shelf, which is rich with hydrocarbons, but its first application was rejected in 2002 due to a lack of geological evidence. Since then, Russia has conducted a number of Arctic expeditions involving seismological and geophysical research to establish the geological composition of the Mendeleev and Lomonosov underwater ridges as a continuation of the Eurasian continent, in hopes of extending the country's jurisdiction with some 1.2 million square kilometers (463,000 square miles) of the Arctic Ocean, reaching up to the North Pole.
