Consideration of the Russian submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) will take at least five years, Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi said in an interview with TASS.

"Even theoretically, it takes the commission at least five years to announce its decision," he said. "Everyone says that consideration of such large-scale submissions lasts for years."

Sergei Donskoi stressed that Russia has tried to facilitate the commission's work by providing all the necessary information and answering questions without delay. He also said he would attend the commission's next session in New York.

"I will attend the next session to present yet again our requirements and reaffirm Russia's readiness to provide any additional information and to organize work with experts. We will hold new presentations by professionals who will accompany me. The experts who prepared the substantiation for our bid will also address the commission," the minister said.

In February 2016, Sergei Donskoi presented to the UN Commission a revised bid to expand the boundaries of Russia's continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean. Russia claims areas beyond the 200-mile exclusive economic zone in Russia's Arctic regions, including part of the North Pole area.