Business leaders on island state see significant opportunities as Moscow looks to Siberia and Far East for investment.
The unique scientific vault will safely store ancient remains at temperatures as low as minus 24C.
With dumpy little legs, a dense body and a penchant for hiding from trouble, the Manul has proved elusive to nature lovers worldwide.
Modern-day zeppelins costing $30 million each would revolutionise transport links and economic exploitation of Siberia in $240 billion plan.
Scientists now to examine if ancient man beheaded the beast.
Success as Novosibirsk State now rubs shoulders with the likes of Yale and Harvard in the United States and Oxford and Cambridge in Britain.
Geologist who built ramshackle hut 100 metres from Agafya Lykova passes away and is buried near the last place he called home.
Now the prickly rodent lives no closer than 2,000 kilometres away, but its remains - recently dated - are scattered in caves of the Altai Mountains.