PORA Discussed the Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the North

June 1, 2026

The «Project Office for Arctic Development» (PORA) Expert Center held a discussion club meeting titled «Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the North and the Role of the State and Business in This Process.» The participants discussed state support measures for indigenous small-numbered peoples, mechanisms for interaction between business and local communities, the development of traditional economic activities, as well as issues regarding education, employment, and the implementation of modern technologies in Arctic regions.

The event was moderated by Alexander Vorotnikov, coordinator of the PORA expert council and associate professor at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Presidential Academy.

Anastasia Ismagilova, Head of the Financial and Legal Support Department of the Yamalo-Nenezk Autonomous Okrug (YNAO) Department for Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the North, spoke about the support system for indigenous minorities in the region. She noted that a comprehensive set of measures operates in the region, covering education, healthcare, social protection, and support for traditional economic activities, totaling more than 40 support measures. Special attention is paid to the nomadic lifestyle, the development of reindeer herding and fishing, as well as the preservation of languages and the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples. The YNAO representative shared that a legal framework has been formed, consisting of over 80 normative legal acts, including the Strategy up to 2035, the Concept for Sustainable Development of Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples, the People’s Program, and a Roadmap that is regularly updated based on the population’s requests. She added that a feedback loop with tundra residents has been established in the region, allowing management decisions to be made based on the results of these meetings.

Mikhail Pogodaev, Deputy Minister for Arctic Development and Peoples of the North of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), stated that the priorities of state policy in the republic are aimed at the sustainable development of the indigenous peoples of the North through support for entrepreneurship and tourism within their traditional economic activities. With the help of federal government funds under the program for state support of traditional economic activities of indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North carried out in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation, Yakutia implemented a project to build a network of trade and logistics centers (TLCs) in all 13 Arctic districts of the republic. Currently, production bases are being established in the traditional residential areas of the northern indigenous peoples in Yakutia to organize harvesting activities and the primary processing of products from traditional sectors. Deep processing will then be carried out through the TLC network at the «Taste of the Arctic» canning factory in Yakutsk.

Anna Mikhailova, Candidate of Economic Sciences and Head of the Department of Sociology and Personnel Management at the Financial and Economic Institute of the M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, presented research findings dedicated to the social well-being of Arctic residents. She emphasized the high level of regional identity among indigenous representatives and noted that according to the results of the 2024–2025 study «Social Portrait of Women in the Arctic within the Creative Economy of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),» 76.5% of surveyed women believe that the creative economy can improve quality of life, create jobs, and prevent the population from relocating, provided that such projects are developed with the participation of the tradition-bearers themselves.

Sergey Tyaglov, Doctor of Economic Sciences and Chief Researcher at the Rostov State University of Economics (RINH), examined Arctic development issues from the perspective of macro-regional policy. In his opinion, the successful development of northern territories is impossible without taking into account the interests of indigenous peoples, an enhanced role for the state, and a balance between economic, social, and ecological goals.

Andrey Trenin, Director General of JSC «Arkmineral-Resource» and head of the «Afrikanda» rare-metal project (Murmansk Oblast), believes that representatives of indigenous peoples are equal social partners—no more and no less—to business and the state when developing deposits located in their traditional homelands. Trenin noted that the rights of communities must be considered on par with the interests of business (which is not a «cash cow») and the state (which is not a source of free subsidies and benefits), while deposit development brings billions of rubles a year to the Russian budget. In his view, key necessary measures include expanding the list of preferences for Arctic businesses depending on the effectiveness of their interaction with indigenous small-numbered peoples, widening the application of ethnological expertise, and developing the institution of stakeholders. For stakeholders, tools such as royalty payments through trust funds, hiring local staff at the enterprises, and involving local organizations in the surrounding ecosystem could be utilized.

Valeria Gulimova, a member of the Council for the Development of the Far East, Arctic, and Antarctic under the Federation Council, focused on the role of the state in creating conditions for responsible business. She emphasized that the sustainable development of territories requires not only federal support measures but also an active stance from regional authorities. Among the promising tools, the expert named special support regimes for entrepreneurship, infrastructure development, and the use of endowment mechanisms for long-term financing of social initiatives. Gulimova believes that the development of crafts and traditional activities is becoming a form of social entrepreneurship for Arctic territories, and from this standpoint, it is necessary to include certain types of activities in the social entrepreneurship registry that would not require it in other regions.

Alexey Tsykarev, Program Director of the School of Public Diplomacy of Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of Russia, stated that the international reputation of countries regarding human rights is often based on stereotypes rather than facts. Upon closer inspection, the highly publicized experiences of Canada and Norway no longer seem exemplary. UN experts recently criticized discriminatory provisions in Canada’s Indian Act, and Norway was urged to halt the practice of issuing preliminary permits for development projects without the consent of the Sámi people. He believes that when rating Arctic companies, it is important to move away from formal criteria and consider the existence of corporate policies regarding indigenous peoples, the transparency of consultations with them, community agreements, grievance mechanisms, and monitoring.

Valery Goncharov, Head of the Territory Development Department at the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (FEDC), emphasized the dangers of modern digital technologies, including financial technologies, clashing with the world of traditional nature management. Goncharov is confident that local community funds or existing endowment funds can become a key link between issuers, investors, and indigenous projects. This includes accumulating small, recurrent contributions from issuers resulting from the tokenization of real-world assets and redirecting them to support NGOs that solve the problems of small-numbered peoples and sustain their traditions and culture.

Alexander Zaletsky, Head of the Technology Department at LLC «Unmanned Aircraft Systems,» spoke about the prospects of using drones in the Arctic. According to him, such technologies are already being used to monitor infrastructure and can significantly improve the transport accessibility of remote territories through cargo delivery, which is also vital for indigenous peoples.

Concluding the event, Alexander Vorotnikov noted that the interaction between indigenous residents of the North, the state, and businesses operating in the North has already entered a new stage. The role of artificial intelligence and network interactions has grown significantly. Consequently, new personnel need to be trained for government agencies. The coordinator of the PORA expert council concluded by emphasizing the opportunity to cooperate with foreign partners in implementing the law on International Territories of Advanced Development, which has already been signed by the President of the Russian Federation. He added that it is also necessary to take into account the changing nature of businesses coming to work in the Arctic, noting that these are no longer just large corporations, but entities that are residents of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation operating within the homelands of indigenous northerners.

The first 2026 issue of the scientific journal Arctic 2035 is dedicated to the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples and the role of the state and business in this process. We invite our readers to explore the materials featured in this edition.