The economy of the North – and Beyond

By 2025, Russia’s Arctic governance has entered a new institutional phase, shaped by a growing emphasis on programmatic control, regional integration, and climate-conscious development. The 2025 Presidential Directive, issued in the context of the President’s visit to Murmansk, consolidates earlier fragmented policies into a unified framework that prioritizes Arctic agglomerations, critical infrastructure corridors, and scientific coordination mechanisms.

Unlike previous strategies, the Directive embeds environmental risks — such as permafrost degradation and biodiversity threats — into the state planning architecture, alongside digital infrastructure and youth-oriented innovation programs. It also reflects Russia’s shift toward internal resource mobilization and geopolitical resilience under sanctions, while institutionalizing long-term governance tools that are both hierarchical and adaptive.

The linked article provides a comprehensive analysis of these trends, tracing the evolution of federal assignments, implementation formats, and strategic logic embedded in the Directive. It situates the 2025 document within broader patterns of Arctic policymaking in Russia and offers comparative insights into the institutionalization of Arctic governance.