1.3.2 The Barents Secretariat as a centre of competence

Regional Development. Together with the MFA and the Eurasia Foundation the Secretariat finances the American-Norwegian Northwest Russia Small Grants Initiative.

The Board of the Barents Secretariat consists of one representative from each of the three Northern Norwegian regions and two observers from the MFA and the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development respectively. The board makes the final decision on approval or rejection of applications. Smaller projects (amounts less than 200,000 NOK) have been left to the Secretariat to approve, but the Board has the opportunity to comment on the dispositions. In 2008 the sum was raised to 400,000 as a measure to strengthen the strategic role of the Board. Multilateral co-operation The fact that Finland, Russia and Sweden do not have a similar agency like the Norwegian Barents Secretariat is frequently mentioned as an important reason why the regional project cooperation within the BEAR is primarily a Norwegian-Russian matter. In order to among others boost multilateral links and cooperation the International Barents Secretariat was established (in operation since January 2008). It is headed by a Russian diplomat with one Swedish advisor. The International Barents Secretariat will be more than 60 percent funded by Norway. The other three Barents Countries will fund the secretariat on a 12.5 percent basis.

1.3.2 The Barents Secretariat as a centre of competence

Being a resource and competence centre for the various stakeholders in the Barents co-operation is one of the Secretariat’s two main functions, the other being the administrator of the project co-operation. The Barents Secretariat is an increasingly popular counterpart for lectures, advice and arrangement of study tours in the BEAR. First of all, the Secretariat serves its owners in their contacts with the Russian regions. With the increased interest for the High North nationally and internationally the number of visits to Kirkenes has increased, and the Barents Secretariat is often used as a facilitator for visitors to the Norwegian MFA. Frequently visits to Kirkenes

are combined with visits to Murmansk, and also here the Barents Secretariat helps arrange travel and meetings in close co-operation with the Norwegian Consulate in Murmansk. Moreover, the northern regional authorities of Finland and Sweden contact the Secretariat for advice.

On a regular basis the Barents Secretariat organises study tours for, among others, two committees (environment and health respectively) under the Nordic Council of Ministers, the participants at MFA’s trainee programme, and the Norwegian National Defence College. Somewhere around 100 Norwegian firms have set up companies in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. Practically all of them have made use of the Barents Secretariat’s know-how, or have received project funds to cover the “softer” aspects of the establishment, like for instance training the Russian staff. The Barents Secretariat has the ambition of making use of its competence on Northwest Russia to “develop robust Norwegian applicants”, as formulated by the General Secretary. Also, internationally the Barents Secretariat’s competence in transboundary activities has been noticed, and the Secretariat has been contacted to assist initiatives in the Middle East as well as in Transcaucasia.

The demand on the Secretariat for assistance naturally has increased, and made the workload of the advisors grow. The money received from the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has not been adjusted according to the price index since the late 1990’s, and the request to the MFA for an additional staff earmarked for information, has not been fulfilled.

The function of competence centre will soon be separated more clearly from the function of administrator of MFA’s project funds. There will be one project department and one department for reporting and information.