On February 8, 2017, at the invitation of the mayor of Sør-Varanger commune, Mr. Rune Rafaelson, an official visit of Murmansk delegation, headed by the head of the Murmansk municipal formation Dmitry Filippov.
The agreement on this visit was reached in 2016 during the visits of Mr. Rafaelson to Murmansk and the participation of a delegation from Kirkenes in the Gulfstream festival dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the city of Murmansk. As part of these meetings, the Norwegian side received a proposal to conclude a cooperation agreement.
The result of the study of this issue, taking into account the existing ties in the field of fishing, tourism and "people"s diplomacy", was the signing of a protocol of intent between the municipality of the city of Murmansk (Russian Federation) and the commune of Sør-Varanger (Kingdom of Norway).
The protocol fixes the spheres of tourism, transport, maritime industry, education and culture as priorities for the development of relations and in the future may become the basis for concluding international agreements of a higher level.
During the negotiations, the issues of the development of Arctic tourism were discussed, in terms of the possibility of extending the route of the Norwegian cruise ships of the Hurtigruten company to Murmansk, the development of tourist information stands and Internet sites, the prospects for the development of cooperation in the field of education following the example of the Russian-Norwegian school operating in Murmansk gymnasium No. 1.
Also, members of the delegation took part in the work of the first day of the Kirkenes conference.
