Government finds money...for conquering Antarctica!

The Council of Ministers unexpectedly approved the state program "Monitoring of the Earth's polar areas and granting the activity of Arctic and Antarctic expeditions for the years 2011-2015” in the beginning of this week. However, the budget of the Belarusian polar explorers has decreased from nearly 390 thousand dollars, which was a week before, to 234 thousand, according to the exchange rate set by the National Bank.

Belarusian Antarctic explorer, an employee of the Academy of Sciences Aleh Miasnikou has confessed that this sum is not enough to cover the planned program of research.

Aleh Miasnikou: “It is obvious that this sum will not cover our expenses, as everything is done abroad, and we arrange our payments with, for example, Russia, by the currency corridor”.

According to the polar explorer, the scientists have many plans and unique ideas. However, he failed to answer the question about how the country will benefit financially from investments in Antarctic projects. He has said that national expeditions to the Poles rise up a country's prestige, but added that getting into the "Polar partnership" is the task at the moment.

Aleh Miasnikou: “To achieve that, we need to build a station there, to proceed to serious scientific research, which would be recognized by the international community”.

"Paying back" the invested money by the Polar explorers is out of the question even in perspective. The point is, Belarus has not occupied its own territory in Antarctica yet, to conduct any researches and to receive any incomes from this in future. 

Aleh Miasnikou: “We cannot speak of any financial perspectives, as our expedition went there only in the season 2008-2009. To evaluate the perspectives we need to evaluate the territory - what is located at that specific place. And then, we need to be sure that this territory will be passed to us in some way, if this ever happens. By now, there is no exploitation there - just science”.

Anyway, the state provided money for the research, even in the crisis times like now. Now the Polar explorers are looking for sponsors.

Besides, the second Belarusian expedition will go to Antarctica under... Russian flags, as well as the first one. This is because Belarusians will join the Russian exhibition, fly the Russian freight and board the Russian ship.