Ecologists believe Russia is not ready for foreign investments

Russia is not ready to receive investments from the West. This is because there is still no control over ecological legislation in our country, the public have no say in taking important decisions and all facilities being built on foreign investments will be dangerous for the environment and the health of the population. This was announced by Oleg Bodrov, head of an environmental protection organisation in Russia called Green world, at a press conference today. He added that when building such facilities public opinion and control over ecological legislation should be as paramount as they are in the western countries which are providing the investment.

For example, he said that the opinions of about 100 thousand local people have been ignored in negotiations over the construction of the Sosnovy Bor aluminium plant.

The aluminium plant will be constructed in three stages near the town of Sosnovy Bor in the Leningrad Region. After the third stage of construction has been completed in 2008 the plant will have an annual production capacity of 360 thousand tonnes. About USD one billion is being invested in the project by US company Alutech.