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Nikel making thus the distance shorter. The Norwegian side modernizes its part of the E-105 as
well. Both projects should be completed by 2014 (Barents Observer, 2011).
Creating a common labor market:
One aspect of twinning consists of relations in the sphere of work.
There is a considerable shortage of skilled labor force in Sør-Varanger and Finnmark more generally,
and this has become more acute with the re-opening of iron mines in the vicinity of Kirkenes.
Efforts have been taken to improve the flow of labor in the Barents region between Norway and
Russia, for example, by providing training for jobs in the offshore sector and by changing experience
in the promotion of an inclusive labor market (Støre, 2010: 10). There were plans to partially staff
the Kirkenes mines with workers from Nikel who could commute daily or work on the shift basis.
These plans, however, were postponed because the introduction of new visa/work permit
regulations was delayed.
Promoting visa facilitation regime
: The intensified contacts between Finnmark and the Murmansk regions
have entailed the need for liberalization of the visa regime for the border residents. In that context,
agreement was reached on a local border traffic zone and the introduction of a border resident ID
card on November 2, 2010. Those who live within the 30 km border area on the Norwegian and
Russian sides are eligible to get a three-year ID card and able to cross the border without a visa and
stay on the other side up to 15 days each time (Soglashenie mezhdu Pravitel‘stvom Korolevstva
Norvegija i Pravitel‘stvom Rosssiyskoy Federatsii, 2010). The whole Sør-Varanger community (with
exception of the Sami village of Neiden) as well as the Russian towns of Nikel, Zapolyarny,
Pechenga and Korzunovo were covered by these arrangements.
The agreement was ratified by both the Norwegian and Russian sides in early 2011. However, it
entered into force only on May 29, 2012, one and half year later after it had been signed. The
numerous technical difficulties, ranging from providing border residents with reliable ID cards to
renovation of the Borisoglebsk-Storskog border-crossing, have repeatedly delayed its
implementation. It is estimated that there is a need for 9,000 cards on the Norwegian and 35,000
IDs on the Russian side (Lebed, 2012). At the Kiruna BEAC summit on June 4, 2013, the Russian
and Norwegian prime ministers have signed a protocol to extend the 2010 agreement to Neiden
thus covering the whole Sør-Varanger community by a visa-free regime [Pogoretskaya, 2013a].
The increased contacts imply that the number of border crossings have grown considerably. The
border crossing in Borisoglebsk-Storskog at the Norwegian-Russian border close to Kirkenes was
reopened in 1991 but initially the number of border-crossing remained low with only a few thousand
crossings a year. In 2010 and 2012 the figures were more than 100,000 and 250,000 crossings
respectively (Pogoretskaya, 2013a; Støre, 2010: 9). It is expected that this figure will be doubled in
2013.
This also means an increased load on the Russian and Norwegian consulates. For example, in 2011-
2012, the Russian consulate in Kirkenes issued 7,000 visas each year. Moreover, it issued 2,200
border resident ID cards from mid-2012 to mid-2013 (Pettersen, 2013). To facilitate visa application,
processing and issuing, the Russian Visa Center was opened on March 28, 2013 in Kirkenes. The
novelty is that it is operated by a Western private company, not by the Russian consulate. The visa