Norwegian Parliamentary Delegation Arrives in Murmansk

A delegation of the Norwegian Storting /parliament/ has arrived in Murmansk, the Kola Peninsula, for a three-day visit, the Murmansk regional administration's press service reported.

The delegation comprises 12 members of the parliament's energy and nature management committee.

During the visit, the Norwegians will see a number of facilities carrying out environment-oriented projects financed by Norway. They have already visited the largest nuclear waste site of the Northern Fleet, the Andreyeva guba, where accommodation for waste eliminators was built last year on funds allocated by the Norwegian party.

In 2003 Norway intends to continue the project's financing and to allocate funds for building communications and a road to the Andreyeva guba.

The Norwegian MPs will also visit the Kola nuclear power plant, the Pechenganikel plant and the Radon enterprise which stores industrial and domestic radioactive waste.

The guests are also interested in jointly studying the Barents Sea biological resources. The issue will be discussed during their visit to the Polar Fishing Institute and the Kola scientific centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

At the meeting with Murmansk regional governor Yuri Yevdokimov, the parties discussed a project of transporting oil to the USA and Western Europe via the port of Murmansk. The Norwegian delegation was interested in the ecological details of the project, as large tankers with oil will pass along their coast.