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Controversy over Illegal Grazing of Norwegian Reindeer

 

Reindeer during the 10th Arctic Race of Norway, Stage 2 a 153.4km stage from Alta to Hammerfest on August 18, 2023 in Hammerfest, Norway.  Luc Claessen/Getty Images

40 domestic Norwegian reindeer crossed the Russian-Norwegian border along the Paatsjoki River and grazed on reindeer moss in a Russian nature reserve from December 2022 to February 2023.

Russia demanded 47 million Norwegian kroner ($4.3 million) as compensation for the days the reindeer were in the Russian protected area, as well as 50,000 kroner ($4600) for each animal that crossed the border and grazed in the Pasvik Nature Reserve.

However, Norway is not ready to pay the full compensation. Instead of the 47 million kroner ($4.3 million) that Pasvik demanded, the Norwegian side is ready to pay only 250,000 kroner ($23 thousand), TASS reports.

The parties will hold two meetings to solve the controversial moments soon.

At the first meeting, they will approve a model for damage compensation. At the second meeting, the parties will discuss the methods to calculate the damage caused by the reindeer grazing.

In the future, the agreements reached may be included in the 1977 Russian-Norwegian agreement on the mutual return of reindeer crossing the state border. The amount of compensation is always an issue since there are still no regulations.

Source: TASS

11.10.2023