OREANDA-NEWS. December 23, 2008. In order to strengthen its presence on the archipelago Svalbard, Russia plans to open a scientific station in the old mining village Pyramiden.

Vice speaker in the Russian Parliament and special representative to the President on international cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic, Artur Chilingarov, told that Russia has to prove its entitlement to the Arctic Shelf through presence in the area.

- We are going to be all over the Arctic, Chilingarov said. We have opened a station on Franz Josef Land, where there has been no observation activity for 20 years, and we are re-establishing the network of polar stations. This is not just science; this is presence in the Arctic.

According to Chilingarov, Russia plans to build a scientific station and an observatory in already existing buildings in the old mining village Pyramiden in course of the next two years.