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The State Duma discussed the implementation of Presidential instructions on Lake Baikal preservation

On October 24, 2019, parliamentary hearings were held, titled “On the Implementation of the Instructions of the President of the Russian Federation on the Preservation of Lake Baikal”, with the participation of Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Vladimir Loginov, the Accounts Chamber Auditor Mikhail Men, Baikal Environmental Prosecutor Sergei Zenkov, the experts, and the representatives of regional authorities and the scientific community. The meeting was chaired by Nikolay Nikolaev, Chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, Property and Land Matters.

The participants considered the reasons for the inefficient execution of the instructions given by the head of state aimed at preserving Lake Baikal, primarily the remediation of the environmental impact of the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill, and formulated recommendations aimed at rectifying the situation.

The participants of the parliamentary hearings recommended that the State Duma draw up and adopt a resolution requiring the Government, the authorities of Buryatia, the Irkutsk Region, the Transbaikal Region, and the VEB.RF corporation to send quarterly reports to the State Duma on the progress in implementation of the Presidential instructions on preserving Lake Baikal and managing the environmental impact of the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill.

M. Men reported that, taking into account the proposals of the State Duma deputies, next year the institution plans to monitor the implementation of the national project "Ecology", and in the course of this work place special emphasis on solving the issues of Lake Baikal.

V. Burmatov, Chairman of the Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection, said that shortly before the hearings he had sent an appeal to the Investigation Committee, requesting to review the expenditure efficiency of cleaning the lake.

The participants of the hearings also emphasized the importance of taking into account the views of the scientific community.

“We urge the Government to carry out work on the execution of the President’s instructions with the greatest possible transparency, we propose creating a commission involving all interested parties so that the process is as open as possible,” N. Nikolaev summarized.

Also, according to Nikolaev, the deputies will come up with a proposal to create a working party in the State Duma tasked with the development of the necessary legislative changes, making it possible to respond quickly to the threat of emergency in the Baikal Region.


Source: duma.gov.ru

Опубликовано: 28 October 2019