President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that Russia needs new environmental laws and greater investment to halt industrial pollution and clean up more than 30 billion tons of toxic waste countrywide.
“The elimination of the accumulated environmental damage is a large and difficult issue that requires considerable investment, both state and private, and the introduction of new technologies,” Medvedev said.
Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said Russia would spend 3.2 billion rubles ($116 million) over the next three years to overcome consequences of pollution in its Arctic Franz Josef Land and Wrangel Island, and around Lake Baikal.