Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – Government of the Russian Federation –
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Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev, as part of a working visit to the Irkutsk Region, held a meeting on the issues of eliminating accumulated environmental damage from the activities of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill and the socio-economic development of the city of Baikalsk. It was attended by the leadership of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the state corporation Rosatom, Rosprirodnadzor, the head of the Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev and representatives of other interested departments and state corporations.
"We are located on the territory of the former Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill. It began its operations in the 1960s. And for more than half a century, its work led to the accumulation of a large volume of hazardous waste. After the closure of the mill, its facilities were mothballed for several years, which created risks for the ecosystem of Lake Baikal. The Russian Government has already allocated more than 11 billion rubles to implement measures to eliminate the accumulated damage. In total, it is planned to allocate more than 15 billion. Financing is carried out within the framework of the national project "Ecological Well-Being", – said Dmitry Patrushev.
The Deputy Prime Minister recalled that, by decision of the President, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Rosatom are engaged in eliminating the accumulated damage in this area. In total, more than 6.5 million cubic meters of waste must be disposed of.
During his working visit, Dmitry Patrushev visited the sites of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill: the Babkhinsky landfill, the Solzansky landfill, and the former central treatment plant. At the moment, infrastructure is being created to clean polluted water, after which its processing will begin. In parallel, the site is being reclaimed. The main part of the project is planned to be completed by the end of 2027. The Deputy Prime Minister also inspected the All-Russian Ecological Campus ECO.CEH, created by VEB.RF on the territory of the former industrial site.
Dmitry Patrushev instructed the Ministry of Natural Resources and the state corporation Rosatom to monitor the issue of eliminating accumulated damage and maintaining an optimal pace of work.
The meeting also considered the issue of socio-economic development of the city of Baikalsk, founded at the same time as the construction of the plant. In 2022, the Government approved a corresponding program until 2040, which includes four basic areas: economy, infrastructure, social sphere and ecology.
"Our main top-level task is to create a comfortable and safe environment for people to live in. At the same time, we must ensure the preservation of the unique ecosystem of Lake Baikal. Given the high social significance of the issues we discussed today, their solution requires maximum involvement of the region and each department involved," Dmitry Patrushev emphasized.
Following the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Economic Development, together with VEB.RF, other departments and the region, to determine priority tasks within the framework of the program for the socio-economic development of Baikalsk.
In order to regularly monitor the progress of the work, Dmitry Patrushev also decided to include the implementation of the socio-economic development program of Baikalsk in incident No. 62 “Implementation of measures for the development of the Siberian Federal District”, which the Deputy Prime Minister heads as the curator of the Siberian Federal District.
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