Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said that the Cabinet is actively working on a "general cleaning of the country." As he noted during the annual report of the Russian Government to the State Duma, Russia “has all the tools to accomplish this task. Of course, it is necessary to solve a number of long-standing problems, including those with abandoned hazardous facilities that pose a threat to the environment. It is necessary to identify all such places - these are sunken ships, old wells, illegal dumps. If you want, a kind of «cleaning» of the country,” he stressed.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, there are about 29 thousand objects of harm in the country including sunken ships and abandoned wells.
In addition, the Prime Minister added that it is important to change the attitude of entrepreneurs towards nature. He said that on behalf of the President, a draft law has been prepared and will soon be sent to the State Duma for consideration, which will oblige the owners to be responsible for the elimination of the damage caused, and financially as well. Recalling the largest accident in Norilsk, Mishustin noted that “the elimination of damage is essentially at the expense of ordinary citizens. It doesn't have to be that way. It is necessary that the damage is paid from the company's net profit. Then only the owners will bear responsibility,” he stressed.
Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, Alexander Kozlov said that the primary task is to audit these facilities, determine the sequence of accumulated harm - what threat they pose to humans. “And following the results of this work, it is easy to remove them, involving the owners,” noted Alexander Kozlov.
“We plan to amend a number of laws that will regulate the creation of liquidation funds for metallurgical enterprises, subsoil use facilities, livestock, poultry and treatment facilities,” said Alexander Kozlov.
In addition, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment said that amendments to the federal law "On Environmental Protection", which would "highlight" environmental payments, were ready and sent to the Government. The President of Russia spoke about this in his message to the Federal Assembly. «The money from environmental fines and eco-collection will go for its intended purpose: for the environment,» the minister said.
