Global warming is causing a major ice retreat from the North Pole. From now on, this retreat allows almost permanent movement between East and West off the coast of the Russian Federation along the Northern Sea Route (NSR). For a long time, navigators have been trying to use this route which significantly reduced the distance between continents. The amount of freight that currently travels on the NSR will inevitably increase in the coming years. To reduce environmental risks, one possible option is not to supply ships with heavy fuel oil. The ships could then be electrically powered and navigate in stages from one port to another along the route to refuel for energy. This electrical energy can be produced on site from renewable energy sources. In this article, a first feasibility analysis is outlined, taking into account the tonnage constraints for navigating on a possible route for the NSR, the cost of energy production and the possible location of several ports of call. Under current economic conditions, the solution would not be profitable as it stands, but should become so at a later stage, which justifies starting to think about a future full electrification of navigation on the NSR, which will also contribute to the economic development of the Russian Federation northernmost regions.

The development of mineral resources in the Arctic territories is one of the priorities of the state policy of Russia. This endeavor requires modern technologies, high-quality personnel, and a large number of labor resources. However, the regions of the Arctic are characterized by difficult working and living conditions, which makes them unattractive to the working population. The research objectives were to study the importance of Arctic mineral resources for the Russian economy, the Arctic mineral resource potential, and the migration attractiveness of Arctic regions. The migration processes in these locations were analyzed and modeled using a new econometric tool—complex-valued regression models. The authors assume that the attractiveness of the Arctic regions is determined by the level of their social and economic development and can be assessed using a number of indicators. A comparative analysis of four regions that are entirely in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation was carried out based on the calculation of integral indicators of the social and economic attractiveness of these territories. Forecasting migration growth using the proposed complex-valued models produced better results than simple trend extrapolation. The authors conclude that complex-valued economic models can be successfully used to forecast migration processes in the Arctic regions of Russia. Understanding and predicting migration processes in the Arctic will make it possible to develop recommendations for attracting labor resources to the region, which will contribute to the successful development of its resource potential. The methodology of this study includes desk studies, a graphical method, arithmetic calculations, correlation analysis, statistical analysis, and the methods of the complex-valued economy.

A comparative analysis is carried out on the programs of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the largest mineral- and raw-materials-processing metallurgical companies operating in the Arctic region, such as PJSC "Norilsk Nickel MMC" and PJSC "Severstal". The diagnosing methodology of the internal and external trends in the development of CSR, developed by Dambovskaya A. A., was selected to conduct the analysis. The following results were obtained according to the criteria (PJSC "Norilsk Nickel MMC" /PJSC "Severstal"): for remuneration and motivation it is 4/3; for professional training, development and adaptation of staff it is 3/1; for labor protection it is 3/3; for social programs and social infrastructure it is 3/2; for implementation of charitable programs it is 4/2; for the realization of sponsorship programs it is 4/3; for the development of the region's infrastructure it is 3/2; for the investments in environmental activities it is 2/2. The results of the final evaluation of companies allowed making the conclusion that PJSC " Norilsk Nickel MMC" has higher level of development and better implementation of CSR programs if compared to PJSC "Severstal" in terms of both external and internal directions (13 points against 9 points). According to the results obtained from the analysis, the most vulnerable and less-developed areas of CSR for both companies have been identified. These are the external directions of the program of " Development of the regional infrastructure" and "Investments in environmental measures". The results of the analysis can be applied by metallurgical companies in order to adjust and improve the CSR programs. In the future, it is planned to conduct a comparative analysis of both the corporate social responsibility programs of the largest companies in the Arctic, as well as the evaluation methods, in order to identify the most objective methods of research, and develop recommendations.

Marina N. KRUK Ph.D. (Economics), Associate Professor Associate Professor of the Department of organization and management Faculty of Economics Saint Petersburg Mining University 2 21st Line Str., Saint Petersburg, 199106, Russia Kruk_MN@pers.spmi.ru Anni Yu. NIKULINA Ph.D. (Economics) Associate Professor of the Department of Organization and Management Faculty of Economics

There are many solutions for storing energy, they can be either mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrochemical or electrical. In a context of smart-grid and micro-grid development, it is necessary to be able to store electrical energy at various points in the network: at the source for intermittent resources, in the network itself to have reserves to ensure exploitation and in consumption areas. Each solution is more or less relevant depending on the storage needs in terms of both power and energy. The evolution of electricity demand in the Russian Federation is a good example to illustrate this issue, especially since it is now planned that all new construction will have an energy storage system, so as to contribute to a better overall exploitation of the network. For intermediate storage, on the network, there is definite potential thanks to the old mines, in particular, that can be developed to store energy in the form of compressed air. In high consumption sites, it is also possible to use storage in the form of large energy banks made up of batteries.