Governor Alexander Drozdenko Delivering A Speech at The Energy of Opportunities, 2017

At the third annual forum for the region's small and medium sized enterprises or SMEs called the "Energy of Opportunities", the governor of the Leningrad region of Russia made a clear statement about his future plans regarding cryptocurrency miners. Speaking before 600 odd attendees the governor Alexander Drozdenko made a statement at the event, which was held last week, inviting cryptocurrency miners escpecially bitcoin miners to set up industrial scale mining farms in the region. The attendees included prominent entrepreneurs from the region as well as various other parts of Russia along with a few federal agency representatives.

Governor Alexander Drozdenko

Governor Drozdenko stated that the construction of Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant 2 (LNPP-2) is almost complete and when it gets commissioned huge amount of lands can be "liberated", which is currently being held by the first LNPP. As a side note I would like to state that the first LNPP was set up in 1974 in the town of Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad situated on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland and about 70 kilometers to the west of Saint Petersburg. The LNPP-2 is being constructed just beside the first nuclear power plant.

Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant; Commissioned in 1974 - Will Soon Be Decommissioned

The governor also stressed that the vacant lands will become available by as early as 2018. Talking about his plans he further revealed that cryptocurrency mining needs a lot of available space and cheap electricity. He can provide vacant space but providing electricity for a competitive price is not in his hands. It is in the hands of electricity providers and regulators like Rosatom. Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, which is headquartered in Moscow, is the governing body that regulates Russian nuclear complex, both civilian and military. That is why governor Drozdenko's office is actually in talks with Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom and other Rosatom heads to provide cheap electricity to attract cryptocurrency miners to the region.

It should also be mentioned that the Institute for Internet Development (IRI) and the Russian Association of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (RABIK) initiated a project earlier this month to subsidize electricity costs of cryptocurrency miners to encourage more people to try their hands on mining. With a favorable environment for miners and continuous growth of interest in mining in Russian youth, it feels like Russia will soon become the cryptocurrency mining hub of the entire world.





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