By Irina Velyaminova
The head of the Belarusian Antarctic expedition, Alexey Gaidashov, has returned from St. Petersburg, where preliminary negotiations were held with Russian colleagues regarding Belarus’ participation in the 57th Russian Antarctic expedition. It will take place from late 2011 to February-early March 2012.
“This year, one or two Belarusian specialists may join the Russian Antarctic expedition,” notes Mr. Gaidashov. Belarusian polar researchers will be involved in studying the physical characteristics of the atmosphere at the Russian Novolazarevskaya station, located in the eastern part of the Schirmacher Oasis, Queen Maud Land, about 80km from the Lazarev Sea.
“We should send our scientists on this expedition. Being a fully-fledged participant of the Antarctic Treaty, Belarus should strengthen its presence on the continent,” Mr. Gaidashov asserts. Recently, the Belarusian Government approved its state programme for 2011-2015 entitled Monitoring of the Earth’s Polar Regions and Maintenance of Arctic and Antarctic Expeditions.
