Russia to Present Arctic Shelf Expansion Bid to New UN Commission - Minister

Moscow will present its bid on the expansion of Russia's Arctic shelf border to the UN CLCS Commission, Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi said Friday.

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — Moscow will present its bid on the expansion of Russia's Arctic shelf border to a new composition of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in mid-July, Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi said Friday.

"We are planning a meeting with the new [UN] commission. Therefore, we are going to have a meeting, a presentation and a discussion of our application. No new applications are expected to be presented. The meeting will take place in mid-July in New York," Donskoi said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

Earlier this year, Donskoi said that the bid would be presented in August.

In 2015, Russia sent a revised request to the United Nations on expansion of the country's shelf border in the Arctic region after showing that the Lomonosov Ridge and other geological regions was an extension of its maritime borders.

SPIEF, held in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg between Thursday and Saturday, is a major global platform for communication between business representatives. The Sputnik news agency is an official media partner of the forum.