Sergey Vakhrin
The Sea of Discord
(analytical review of Russian and American press)
The Bering Sea could have been an inner sea of Russia if 130 years ago would not have been sold. And it was sold (for a funny sum of 7 million 200 thousand dollars) only because Russia had no chance to retain Russian America for itself and being afraid that Anglo-French from Canada would first capture Alaska and then Siberia (at that time from Kamchatka to the Uralz); the Russian government literally forced Russian America upon Americans and Americans only out of gratitude for the help of Catherine the Great during the War for Independence of the North American United States and bought these lands for that symbolic sum which disgusts at present many Russians. Only years later — in the period of gold rush — Americans understood what a generous gift Russia presented them with in the epoch of Alexander II. And now, actually every year they thankfully remember our czar — Alaska is the region of unprecedented wealth.
The same is the Bering Sea which brought and still brings fabulous riches to hunters, whalers, fishermen and now to oil companies.
In 1976 the Federal government of the USA allotted more than 1 million. dollars to the University of Alaska for the organization of oil research work. Big private firms also became the investors. The activity of work is caused by the scientifically based data that there is a probability that by the end of this century the major oil and gas deposits on the continental part of Alaska would be exhausted.
In the course of research specialists signed out two perspective oil-bearing regions:
— “Northon” including the Northon Bay and also area of water adjacent to the island of St. Lawrence;
— the region of the Navarra basin.
American specialists evaluated reserves in the Navarra basin at about more than 1, 2 milliard barrels of oil (1 barrel of oil — 158, 988 decimitres’3 and about 224 billion of metres’3 of gas). In the 80s Americans worked out a special program to organize the industrial exploitation of energy resources in the Navarra basin in which participated 18 oil companies of America.
In April 1984 the main prospective works were completed and the government put on sale licenses for industrial extraction of oil for private firms.
But after the sale of licenses the government of the USA declared that the actual industrial boring should be temporarily stopped until the settlement problem of division of zones of property in the Navarra basin between the USSR and the USA. The decision of the government was not to the liking of oil companies which became the owners of licenses with the right to extract oil on the continental shelf in the Bering Sea. Some declared about the decision to fight for the right to begin industrial exploitation of the oil deposits in the region of the Navarra basin...
And again Americans have some good words for another of our emperor — the first and only president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Michael Gorbachev, who with his generous had gave another gift to the United States a territory of 20,000 square naval miles (and, as it is known is about two land kilometers). Simply gave them this gift. In the language of diplomats it was then called the act of good will. And these acts were exercised by the USSR Foreign Minister Edward Shevarnadze (Georgia as is well known has nothing to do with the Bering Sea and Russia besides area of water proper lost everything which is there — thousands of tons of fish and resources of gas and oil which nobody yet evaluated properly, it will naturally tell upon the curtailment of fish resources in the other area of water of the Bering Sea, including the exclusively economic zone of Russia this is another nuance of the unprecedented deal in squandering of the Russian territory). It is possible to understand who hurriedly in 1991 ratified the so called Agreement on the demarcation line of sea spaces signed June 1, 1990 in Washington and which came into force since the moment of signing (so you see this hurry and pep of the former party kinglets!).
In February 1997 the State Doome of the State Congress of Russian Federation decided not to prolong the term of the temporary application of the Agreement between the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America on the demarcation line of sea spaces. In accordance with this decision in order to eliminate legal vagueness the Russian side agreed with the proposal of the United States on settlement of the problems of fishery in the region mentioned. The Russian side (again the fishermen versus the country’s ministry of Foreign Affairs) demanded compensation — 150 thousand tons of different kinds of fish, which Russian fishermen could have caught in the economic zone of the USA. Americans answered with outright refusal. But that is not all...
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