Wealth Divides 2 Arctic Mining Towns - by Alister Doyle
The Russian and Norwegian miners and their families live on the same island 40 kilometers apart, separated by a snow-covered mountain range that marks one of the greatest wage divides in the world for doing the same job. Norwegian miners can earn up to euro 80.000 per year, more than 10 times the pay of a Russian miner, Norwegian officials say. Norway administers Svalbard, but other nations can exploit natural resources under a 1920 treaty.
Russian miners in the village of Barentsburg, which boasts a big, heated indoor swimming pool and a bust of Lenin on the main square, declined to say precisely how much they earned. Still, miners in Barentsburg, operated by state firm Arktikugol, say they also enjoy Arctic life, even if expectations are lower. The islands are bathed in the midnight sun for almost half the year, with darkness for most of the rest.
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