Teriberka: Green light to tourism
© RIA Novosti. Anton Denisov

Teriberka: Green light to tourism

Some episodes of The Leviathan that came out in 2014 were filmed at Teriberka, a small village on the coast of the Barents Sea. The amazing beauty of the northern nature stunned the audiences so much that every year sees a growing number of tourists coming to Teriberka. Arctic.ru asked the Murmansk Region’s Minister for Industry and Entrepreneurship Olga Kuznetsova what the regional authorities were planning to do to develop Teriberka.

Teriberka was going downhill during the last few decades: plants were at a standstill, some buildings were abandoned, people were leaving… However, the situation changed as soon as The Leviathan hit the screens. What are the Murmansk Region authorities doing to develop the village?

Currently we are implementing a comprehensive development program that includes a number of social and economic measures, site improvements, and investment projects. Teriberka is a unique tourist destination and tourism is really growing with each passing year. There are many foreign tourists too. For example, this year the number of visitors from China increased. Russian tourists often come two years in a row. Investors are conscious of the need for high-quality services, accommodation and guided tours. Therefore they invest into the construction of hotels and recreational centers. The latter offer both accommodation and specialized pastimes. These are things like kitesurfing, diving, offshore fishing, and lots of other activities too. Under our site improvement program, we are investing heavily into upgrading a road that leads to Teriberka and also of roads within the village. In addition, we are overhauling some social facilities and the power infrastructure.

The Murmansk Region's Government has been considering a project to create a tourist and pilgrimage center at Teriberka. What will it be like?

We are choosing a plot of land but I don't know right now what the center will look like. We hope that the project will be implemented as part of the general Teriberka development concept.

In Soviet times, Teriberka was home to fish factories, farms, and ship shops. Are there plans to revive them?  

Reviving plants does indeed make sense but only if they are able to pay their way. Revival for the sake of revival though, is out of the question. Investors like lucrative businesses and will only agree to put funds into projects which are profitable. For now, tourism is the best industry and so about 500 million rubles have already been invested in several ongoing projects.

Coastal fishing is a traditional industry in Teriberka and the Government of the Murmansk Region is drafting measures to bolster it up and remove legislative barriers obstructing its progress.

Will local people have an opportunity to get jobs in the tourist business? 

They will. Right now the locals are being hired to help build hotels. Later, if they are skilled enough, they will be offered hotel jobs.

In 2015 and 2016, the village hosted an Arctic festival, Teriberka. A New Life. Can we expect it to take place this year?

We hope it will be held this year too, because it attracts a lot of locals and tourists. People come because they really want to enjoy themselves. We'll improve the organization for it to be more convenient.

Amazing nature is Teriberka's main tourist attraction. However, the village is full of all sorts of litter, including abandoned and rusty ships. Is some environmental cleanup on the cards?

Yes, of course. The year 2017 is the Year of the Environment and therefore our comprehensive development program provides for numerous related events. We'll continue clearing up all the accumulated solid domestic waste. We are planning to continue our volunteer program to pick up garbage along the seacoast. This will be done in summer after all the snow melts. In spring, we'll launch a public outreach campaign.