Russia will present its Arctic shelf expansion bid at the UN New York headquarters on February 9, according to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoi, RIA Novosti reported.

"The presentation is scheduled for February 9. I will travel there, to New York, to present it alongside my colleagues," Donskoi said.

In early August, Russia applied to the UN to expand the boundary of its Arctic shelf by incorporating the Lomonosov Ridge and other formations that are natural extensions of the continental landmass.

At present, all issues regarding the exploitation and development of various sectors of the World Ocean are regulated by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. By now, the Convention has been signed by 155 countries, among them the majority of leading maritime powers with the exception of the United States. Russia signed and ratified it in 1997.

Five Arctic countries — Russia, Denmark, Norway, Canada and the United States — are claiming a broader continental shelf (stretching beyond the 200-nautical-mile limit from their territorial sea baselines). In asserting their rights to the Arctic shelf, all Arctic countries have complied or intend to comply with the procedures stipulated in the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, namely by filing formal applications to the UN Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf. Nearly all Arctic countries have done this, except the United States, which is also preparing its shelf extension bid, but in order to file it, will have to join the 1982 Convention.