Rossiiskaya gazeta: “Weighing the numbers”
Vladimir Putin takes the side of Baikal Pulp and Paper Plant.
Vladimir Putin put in a word for the much-maligned Baikal Pulp and Paper Plant at an enlarged meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society. He said that the plant was not the primary culprit in polluting Lake Baikal, and that, moreover, it provided an essential livelihood for the people of Baikalsk.
The Baikal Pulp and Paper Plant suspended its work in October 2008 after introducing a water recycling system designed to protect the lake's ecology. Due to the environmental efforts, it found itself unable to profit on the production of bleached pulp. In January 2010, the Russian government responded by removing the production of pulp, paper, and cardboard from the list of prohibited industrial activities in the region thus enabling the plant to resume operations. Moscow's decision caused angry protests among Russian and world environmentalists, but on the other hand, it was backed by the citizens of Baikalsk who depend on the plant for their livelihood. Vladimir Putin called on the former "to look at everything carefully, without undue sound and fury, seriously and in a statesmanlike way." The prime minister set a personal example last summer by visiting Lake Baikal and even descending to the bottom of the lake.
"There are no changes for the worse, luckily. But this is not to say that there are no problems. One should look at them attentively, without unduly politicising the issue," the Prime Minister said yesterday, citing the opinion of scientists with whom he spoke.
Vladimir Putin also cited some revealing data. The pulp and paper plant discharges 27,400 tons of waste into Lake Baikal every year. In comparison, Ulan Ude discharges 34,000 tons, Irkutsk 106,000 tons, and the Gusinoozersky industrial hub 442,000 tons. Emissions into the atmosphere from the BPPP are relatively low, the prime minister said, and meanwhile, the 14,000 inhabitants of Baikalsk need jobs.
"We shut down the enterprise in order to send a signal to managers and owners to pay more attention to ecology. But as a result, social and economic degradation set in. The social fabric started to crumble," the Russian prime minister said.
By Pier Sidibe
