MOSCOW, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Russia entrenched itself deeper in Antarctica for continuing scientific researches there, a government press service said on Tuesday.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a plan of work of the Russian Antarctic expedition for 2013-2017 and beyond, according to the press service.
The plan includes conducting annual expeditions in Antarctica for land and marine studies, observing global climate changes and supporting space explorations.
"Overall, the plan focuses on expansion of Russia's presence in Antarctica and implementation of some key projects," it said.
Russia maintains five permanent polar stations in Antarctica and plans to allocate another 60 billion rubles (about 2 billion U.S. dollars) to implement a wide range of new projects, state-run RIA news agency said.
The plan also envisaged further research of the subglacial Lake Vostok where Russia's Vostok Station is deployed.
Russia joined the Antarctic Treaty and its Environmental Protocol in 1959. The current Russian plan of Antarctic explorations expired in 2012.
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