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Arctic Yearbook 2013
Kirkenes-Nikel
Capacity-Building Strategies
These strategies include a wide array of methods:
One crucial area consists of
attracting investments
. Both domestic and foreign investments are searched
for and this applies both to the existing sectors (such as mining industries or transport
infrastructure) as well as potential projects (e.g. new railways connections and industrial parks). For
example, the Sør-Varanger community managed to attract the Tschudi Group, a large Norwegian
investment company, to the region in order for the Bjørnevatn iron ore open-pit mine to be
reopened in 2009. The mine is important for Sør-Varanger in terms of employment and it actually
adds to the shortage of labor that has been there already for some time, thus also contributing to the
idea that some part of the working force could be recruited from the Russian side of the border. The
mine does not only contribute to the local economy with iron ore being extracted there, as it is also
hauled with the Kirkenes–Bjørnevatn Line over to Kirkenes in order to be processed and shipped
out. The mine already has a long history as it was initially opened in 1906 – leading then also to the
grounding of Kirkenes – but then closed in 1996 because of its own inefficiency and the decline in
the price of iron ore (Viken, et.al., 2008: 28-29). The reopening is, in turn, related to more favorable
prices allowing also the Tschudi Group to invite some external investors to contribute to the re-
opening. They have invested altogether some 2,400 million Norwegian krone (NOK) for the mine
to be modernized and reopened.
Among other large investment projects, the Sør-Varanger community is looking for investors to
renovate the Kirkenes international airport, European routes 06 and 105 as well as the local road
system. It is to be noted that all these projects have been advertized as gateways or links to the
Murmansk region or Russia in general.
As for the Russian side, an event called the Russian-Norwegian Cross-Border Cooperation Days was
organized in November 2011 in Nikel was exemplary in terms of investment policies. A number of
international business associations such as SIBA International Management, Foreign Investor
Business Association (FIBA), Norwegian Business Association (NBA) and Naringshage (Kirkenes
business association) took part. The Pechenga district has organized a poster session titled ‗Russia‘s
north-western gates‘ to demonstrate investment opportunities for foreign businessmen (Bulygin,
2011).
Branding/PR strategies
: In order to attract foreign investors and for twinning to gain both regional and
national support, the municipalities have launched rather active PR campaigns. For example, they
have arranged exhibitions, held the ‗days of cooperation‘ and arranged festivals in towns with which
they are related, taken part in international fairs and advertised themselves in the partner cities‘ mass
media (see photograph below). In addition, the municipal leaders undertake regular trips abroad for
public relations purposes. Kirkenes, Nikel and Pechenga run bilingual periodicals and web-sites
oriented towards audiences in the regional neighbourhood. The main message of this campaign is to
present twins as creative and innovative platforms rather than remote and depressive areas.