Russia's state-owned company on Svalbard, Trust Arktikugol, asks Norwegian governments to consent to several measures for the Russian settlements Barentsburg and Pyramiden.

The last known request from the mining company, which was also made on behalf of its tourism subsidiary Grumant, involved tax exemption or considerable tax relief. That was based on failing revenues from tourism and coal production due to sanctions against Russia for its warfare against Ukraine, both local boycott and international measures. That is reported by NRK.

Trust Arktikugol points to section 15 of the tax payment act about payment deferrals and reductions based on consideration for the debtor. The request is unlikely to be granted, says Associate Professor of Jurisprudence at BI, Eivind Furuseth, to NRK. Lower taxes or deferral will provide the company with a larger profit, which can contribute to financing the war. This will violate the public moral in Norway, which tax relief should not do, Furuseth points out.

The aforementioned request joints a series of past requests from Trust Arktikugol, which is reported by Svalbardposten. The company seeks permission to the following with a reference to the Svalbard Treaty:

• Resume flights between Moscow and Longyearbyen. A new, more specific application about this must be sent, says the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Replace the carpark with cars produced in Russia with Russian licence plates.
• Introduce official street names in the settlements, named, among other things, after key figures in polar expeditions and Svalbard research - probably preferably Russian/Soviet
• Build a new dock with fish and crab landing facilities.
• Open a grocery store and sell holiday trips in a Russian building in Longyearbyen.

The company also wants to cooperate with the local government in Longyearbyen about culture and sports exchange for children, among other things. Russia also has large-scale plans of modernizing Barentsburg and Pyramiden.