Yeah, what does the West know about Yakutia? This question a RIA Novosti correspondent asked Eric Hoesli, writer, journalist and Editorial Director of Edipresse, Switzerland, who arrived to Yakutsk with the purpose to participate in the meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. His answer was interesting. Partly I agree, partly not. Check yourself.
RIA Novosti: Club members will travel to the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) this year. What does the West know about the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), and what do you expect to see and hear there?
Eric Hoesli: If we are talking about what the West knows about Yakutia, the answer is very simple: they know there are diamonds there.
Apart from this, the development of all of Siberia is of great interest, I think. This concerns not only natural resources. I think climate change, carbon dioxide emissions, and other environmental problems are of great importance. These are global problems that are affecting Siberia. I wonder what local leaders think of them.
There are other issues that interest me in Yakutia. They are related to the development of Siberia—for instance, the river infrastructure and the Northern Sea Route. The Lena River, which links Yakutsk with all of Russia, is navigable only for a few months of the year. The Northern Sea Route might now be restored due to ice melting, and the possibilities of this are being discussed widely. It would be interesting to hear local opinions on the problem. Questions raised back in the 1930s have now become relevant again because of global warming.
In short, Yakutia exemplifies the situation in entire Siberia, and this has an impact on our future.
The full text of the interview is here.
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