Russian legislation on the Northern Sea Route navigation: scope and trends

This article shows what steps Russia has taken since 2012 to accomplish the task of the legal regulation of navigation on the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Its first part is devoted to characteristics of the Russian legislation, which defines the territorial extent and legal status of the NSR as historically developed national transport communication of the Russian Federation. The second part contains a brief description of the 2013 Rules of Navigation in the Water Area of the NSR, which are in force in Russia today, in comparison with similar rules of the Soviet Union of 1990. The third part describes the nature of changes made to the Russian legislation in recent years due to changes in the world geopolitical situation, which prescribed a new procedure for allowing foreign ships to carry out certain types of activities in the NSR and a new matrix of interaction between Russian government bodies and organisations to manage this transport communication. The conclusion summarises results of the study and makes assumptions about the possibility of further changes in the Russian legislation on the subject.