Russia, Denmark Will Cooperate in 20 Environmental Projects

Vitaly Artyukhov, the Minister of Natural Resources of Russia, met today with Hans Christian Schmidt, the Minister of Environment of Denmark. According to the press service of the Ministry of Natural Resources, discussed was the possible further cooperation between the two countries under the 1993 bilateral agreement as concerned environmental protection . At this time, joint ecological project are carried out in Moscow, St. Petersburg and in the Kaliningrad, Leningrad, Pskov, Smolensk, and Novgorod Regions. The total number of projects is over 20, encompassing water treatment, timber industry, protected nature preserves, energy distribution, power production, and environment-related education.

The parties also talked about the future prospects of cooperation under multilateral environment protection-related agreements. For instance, the discussion covered cooperation within the Basel Convention concerning the trans-border transportation and removal of hazardous waste, the Helsinki Convention on the protection of the water environment of the Baltic Sea, and the convention concerning lingering organic pollutants. The ministers touched upon the World Summit on Stable Development to take place in Johannesburg in September this year and the European Environment conference in Kiev.