Melting the money of Antarctica

The economic crisis for a third cut Russian expenses for the research of Antarctica

Russian media reported that due to the reduction in financing, the Russian Antarctic expedition suspended scientific research in Antarctica for an indefinite period. In addition, the drilling of a well on the relic Lake East was stopped-this bright long-term project was once considered in the Kremlin as having state-propaganda significance. The expedition leadership angrily refuted a message about the complete financial collapse, but it is forced to admit: for economic reasons, the costs of mastering polar spaces are reduced by more than a third. As funds for antarctic research are melting, scientific programs are frozen.

Five Russian stations are constantly working on Antarctica, work on seasonal bases is being carried out, the service of which is engaged in, in particular, scientists and specialists of the Arctic and Antarctic Scientific Research Institute . In February 2012, as a result of complex drilling operations, the surface of the Orthodox Lake East was achieved at a depth of almost 3800 meters. At the opening of the lake, the researchers received samples of lake ice from the tribute layers of the glacier and samples of frozen water. A detailed study of the lake should begin in 2016. But will it begin? The Russian Antarctic expedition is funded directly from the federal budget. Direct abbreviations of allocations this year amounted to 10% (the expedition budget for 2015 - 1 billion 69 million rubles). Says the head of the Russian Antarctic expedition Valery Lukin:

- TASS's message is not true. Yes, there are estimates of estimates, but the drama is not associated with a 10%cutting out budget, we would have experienced it. The main problems are a sharp change in the ruble to freely convertible currency. The material costs of the expedition are approximately half of the currency expenses, because our expeditionary vessels and planes oversle up far beyond the borders of Russia, and we will not be able to solve this problem with any import substitution. So the real reduction in the expedition budget is 35%, because we buy currency for rubles. We are forced to reduce the most financially capacious currency projects. One of them is a project for the intra -monitoring of the work of the Russian Antarctic expedition, we are talking about flights between stations. We abandoned the most expensive work at the Vostok station, including drilling projects; These are seasonal studies that are carried out during two Antarctic summer months, December and January. We have stupidly lacking money. This year there will be no seasonal research at the Vostok station, but this does not mean that the Vostok station is closing. It will work year -round, all 365 days a year.

- And what about the drilling of the relict Lake East?

- "The well is frozen" - this was said by a person who does not own information. Yes, indeed, the water froze, rising up the barrel of the well from the Soldian Lake, in the lower layer of 70 meters. She froze because on the side walls of the well is a negative temperature, but the entire well is filled with an unhurried censer fluid. At one time, due to the requirements of the global Antarctic community, we stopped drilling operations for eight years-from 1998 to 2006. There is no disaster here.

- How did financial reduction affect the essence of scientific research?

-Understand, for example, well, here we purchase fuel for diesel-electrical power plant. For what scientific programs are electricity produced? What difference does it make - at least drilling, at least work on the study of the Earth’s magnetic field, on meteorology, on coastal oceanological dimensions. It makes no difference: there should be electricity at the station. The total number of scientific projects stated for the 61st Russian Antarctic expedition (it will begin on October 29 by sending the Academician Fedorov scientific and expedition vessel from St. Petersburg) decreased by 14 units compared to the past and current years. The number of Russian scientific organizations that announced these projects decreased by three compared to the last expedition, ”said Radio Liberty, the head of the Arctic expedition Valery Lukin .

At the end of the year, the oceanographic research vessel of Admiral Vladimir, owned by the Navy, will go to Antarctica -to proceed the marine and navigation maps and check the radio navigation systems. This is the first Russian naval expedition to Antarctica in three decades. Budget money was found, but along the line of another, a much more influential department.