Federal grant continues Alaska/Russia partnership in Russian Far East

The two-year, $745,835 grant to be administered by the Alaska Division of International Trade and Market Development

Petroleum News Alaska

The state of Alaska will receive nearly $750,000 from the federal government to continue initiatives in the Russian Far East that assist Sakhalin to make the transition to a free market economy and create jobs for Alaskans, Gov. Tony Knowles said July 12.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is awarding Alaska a new two-year $745,835 grant, to be administered by the Alaska Division of International Trade and Market Development, which will coordinate and oversee the project work.

The new projects pick up where a previous grant, which ended June 30, leaves off. That grant provided $405,236 for Alaska Sakhalin Working Group projects in development finance, training programs, and technical assistance on Sakhalin. Numerous Alaska companies are pursuing work in the oil and gas developments under way on Sakhalin.

The new grant provides money for: Continuation of work started under the earlier grant to establish a Sakhalin development finance institution modeled after the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority; the Sakhalin Fund for Future Generations modeled after Alaska’s Permanent Fund; the University of Alaska Mining and Petroleum Training Service will assess the workforce needs of Sakhalin oil and gas developments. and permit Sakhalin Alaska College (a joint venture of MAPTS, Alaska’s Peak Oilfield Service Co., and the Sakhalin branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences) to develop a training program geared toward meeting Sakhalin industry needs.