#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. This fact was voiced at the annual international seminar Pasvikseminaret 2021. Research by other scientists studying water resources, fish and berries also proves that nature in the border zone is coming to life.
As the deputy general director of the Kola MMC for regional policy and corporate projects Maxim Ivanov clarified, foreign colleagues had many questions earlier. But this year they saw and confirmed at the seminar that the company had completed the event on time. For example, Tore Berglen, a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Atmospheric Research, drew attention to the significant improvement in air quality in the border area.
“I know that emissions from the Kola MMC will continue to decline. Compared to 2015, this figure will be 85 percent. This is very positive news. We have been talking about this for many years, and finally the problem has been resolved, emissions have been significantly reduced. This is the most excellent presentation I have ever presented”, Nord News quoted Toure Berglen.
The representative of the Svandhovd environmental center, Snure Hakes, pointed out that Nornickel is working hard to become a green metallurgical enterprise – it reduces emissions, applies advanced technologies, and cooperates with the Pasvik nature reserve.
“Today, a lot of interesting things are happening in the border areas. We have many common interests and there is a certain key to making everything work out – it is good coordination, cooperation, a large knowledge base”, added Snure Hakes.
Mikhail Shkondin, chief ecologist of the Kola MMC environmental safety department, recalled that work with neighboring Norway and Finland began many years ago, when the smelter in Nickel was operating at full capacity.
“Despite the fact that we fit into the requirements of the 1979 Geneva Convention on the reduction of acid gas emissions, the neighbors continued to express their dissatisfaction, and we repeatedly returned to this issue. At the same time, when we ordered a model of pollution dispersion on the territory of Norway and the Kola peninsula to a specialized institute, it showed that 40 percent of the pollutants falling on the territory of the Murmansk region are brought from neighboring countries due to the so-called western transport, which prevails in the Northern hemisphere… The foreign colleagues did not like this information, because in some way it forced them to look in the mirror, it turned out that there was a parity of interests. Due to the pandemic, our dialogue stopped for a while. Now when the epidemic situation is stabilizing, they have a desire to continue the conversation. And this cannot but rejoice”, emphasized Mikhail Shkondin.
In addition to the environmental component, the seminar participants were interested in the future of the village after the closure of the floating plant in Nickel. Foreign colleagues were told about projects for the development of alternative employment in the Pechenga district, in which Nornickel, the Kola MMC and the Second School center for social projects of the Pechenga district are actively involved.
As a reminder, the smelting shop in Nickel was shut down in December 2020. We also wrote that Nornickel is developing a big environmental strategy.
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Text: Maria Sokolova, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko and nord-news.ru
