Witte Moscow University, Moscow, Russia:

A. V. Semenov, President, Professor, Doctor of Economic Sciences
Yu. S. Rudenko, First Vice-President, Professor, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences
Yu. V. Razovskiy, Professor, Doctor of Economic Sciences, renta11@yandex.ru

Recently both scientists and politicians increasingly show interest in fundamental theory of natural resources rents, including mineral rents, oil rents and gas rents. Application of the rents is revised in terms of modern reality of the world depression and “failure” of Russian scenario of liberal development model; concepts on origination of hydrocarbons are evolved. This is an evidence of the relevance of the respective studies, necessity of improvement in economic theory and the intention of researchers to implement scientific potentiality of efficient and sound use of natural resources. There is a tendency for some researchers to validate reappearance of directive state-controlled economy. This article describes the topical research undertaken by the Witte Moscow University in the framework of program “Contemporary Issues of Using Potential Offered by Offshore Zones and Water Resources of the Russian Federation” aimed at building geopolitics, economy and efficient model of strategic control over natural capital and natural resources rents of the Arctic Region, in particular, a theory and methodology of generation of surplus profit, including Arctic natural resources rents. The authors have developed and offer an extended classification of Arctic natural resources rents based on a single criterion of the source of capital accumulation, taking into account diversity of the rents, and being a framework for the appraisal procedure of the rents and tax assessment. The authors expound their criticism relative to supporters of oil and gas business transfer to the government ownership and resurrection of the directive state-controlled pricing (as in the Soviet times). The present-day case studies illustrate inadequacy of this attitude. A reasoned and effective alternative to hydrocarbons being the government or private property is in the authors’ opinion to give the natural resources the status of national property as a living environment of human society, where mineral wealth ownership is public, management is governmental and assignment of mineral resources rents is done by each citizen personally. The authors put forward the mechanisms of the peoples’ ownership and rent appraisal methodology.

1. Lozhnikova A. V. Renta v usloviyakh modernizatsii i tekhnologicheskogo razvitiya: makro- i mikroekonomicheskaya priroda (Rent in modernization and technological development conditions: macro- and microeconomic nature). Tomsk : Journalist Faculty of Tomsk State University, 2011. 223 p.
2. Selin V. S., Tsukerman V. A. Teoriya renty i problemy nedropolzovaniya v natsionalnoy ekonomike (Theory of rent and problems of soil use in national economics). Gornyy informatsionno-analiticheskiy byulleten = Mining Informational-Analytical Bulletin. 2010. No. 9. pp. 109–114.
3. Razovskiy Yu. V., Makarkin Yu. N., Gorenkova E. Yu. Mineralno-syrevoy capital (Mineral resource capital). Moscow : U Nikitskikh vorot, 2013. 387 p.
4. Shakhnovskiy I. M. Proiskhozhdenie neftyanykh uglevodorodov (Origin of oil hydrocarbons). Moscow : GEOS, 2001. 72 p.
5. Chernyavskiy S. V. Kritika sverkhpribylnoy kontseptsii prirodno-resursnoy renty (Critics of excess profitable concept of natural-resource rent). Vestnik universiteta (Gosudarstvennyy universitet upravleniya) = Bulletin of University (State University of Management). 2012. No. 18. pp. 102–105.
6. Razovskiy Yu. V., Bulat S. A. Upravlenie sverkhpribylyu (Excess profit management). Moscow : Smolensk State University, 2011. 305 p.
7. Semenov A. V., Rudenko Yu. S., Makarkin Yu. N., Razovskiy Yu. V. Metodologiya otsenki arkticheskoy neftegazovoy renty (Method of assessment of arctic oil and gas rent). Sovremennye problemy ispolzovaniya potentsiala morskikh akvatoriy i pribrezhnykh zon : materialy XI mezhdunarodnoy nauchnoy konferentsii (Modern problems of the potential of offshore and coastal zones : materials of the XI international scientific conference). Moscow : Moscow University named after S. Yu. Vitte, 2015. Part 1. pp. 477–489.
8. Singsaas I., Lewis A. Behaviour of oil and other Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) in Arctic waters (BoHaSa). Available at: http://www.arctic-council.org/eppr/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Final-Report-BoHaSA_23-02-20111.pdf (accessed: December 16, 2015).
9. Lindholt L., Glomsrød S. The role of the Arctic in future global petroleum supply. Available at: http://www.ssb.no/a/publikasjoner/pdf/DP/dp645.pdf (accessed: December 16, 2015).
10. Arctic Social Indicators – a follow-up to the Arctic Human Development Report. Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen 2010. Available at: http://library.arcticportal.org/712/1/Arctic_Social_Indicators_NCoM.pdf (accessed: December 11, 2015).
11. Godovye otchety Otkrytogo Aktsionernogo Obshchestva «Surgutneftegaz» za 2012–2014 gody (Annual reports of the JSC “Surgutneftegaz” for 2012-2014). Available at: http://www.surgutneftegas.ru/investors/reports/annual/ (accessed: December 18, 2015). (in Russian)
12. Thompson T. P., Mill J. The True Theory of Rent in Opposition to Mr. Ricardo and Others: Being an Exposition of. 2011. 41 p.