Abstract. The growing interest in exploitation of the Arctic is present on the part of many countries. According to the existing legal rules, only five countries directly bordering on the Arctic are eligible to develop its shelf: Canada, Denmark, Norway, the USA and Russia. Japan and China would like to participate if the Extreme North exploitation regime changes. The authors analyze the unfolding battle between different countries for the control over the Arctic. For many countries, their interests in the region and concepts of the shelf borders are the area of disagreement. Therefore, both multipartite and bipartite coalitions at the political level are possible in the future.