Just think, lake

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing the resumption of production at the Baikal pulp and paper mill, owned by Oleg Deripaska, which is considered one of the most environmentally harmful enterprises in Russia. The government decree excludes the production of pulp, paper and cardboard from the list of activities prohibited in the central ecological zone of the Baikal natural territory, Kommersant writes. The newspaper recalls that the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill has not worked since October 2008 and is on the verge of bankruptcy, so it was planned to close it completely. In October last year, a surveillance procedure was introduced. Work was stopped because the plant was transferred to a closed water circulation system: the plant’s wastewater did not flow into the lake. The article says that the plant was demanded to be closed or repurposed back in Soviet times, and more than once. Now, due to the construction of a closed water circulation system and treatment facilities, which required large investments, the enterprise has become unprofitable. Environmentalists considered the closure of the pulp and paper mill a victory. The fact that production could be resumed became clear at the end of July 2009, when Putin, who visited the plant, unexpectedly announced that Baikal was in good condition, there was practically no pollution and he himself “observed a large amount of plankton and living creatures there,” writes newspaper. A month earlier, Putin saved another Deripaska enterprise - the long-suffering alumina refinery in Pikalevo. Environmentalists are going to appeal to President Dmitry Medvedev to cancel Putin’s order. Meanwhile, according to financial analysts cited by Kommersant, the resumption of production will not make the plant profitable. Under current conditions, the mill can only produce unbleached cellulose, which does not generate income, and to switch to bleached cellulose, expensive equipment will be needed.