The meeting of the working group was held at the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia. It was attended by Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia Sergey Anoprienko and Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia Myagmarzhar Ganbaatar. The parties discussed the issues of EIA in connection with Mongolia's planned project of hydraulic structures in the basin of transboundary rivers.

Mongolia is working on the project of the Egiyn-Gol hydroelectric power station in the Selenga River basin, which is the largest tributary of Lake Baikal, the work is coordinated with the bordering state – Russia.

"Our position is that it is necessary to provide an environmental impact assessment of all planned hydroelectric power plants in the Selenga catchment area, including an assessment of the potential impact not only on the environment, but also on the ecological processes of biodiversity. Together with you, we have all the necessary mechanisms for this work," said Sergey Anoprienko, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia.

A Russian-Mongolian working group has been established to comprehensively address issues related to the planned construction of hydraulic structures.

On October 16 and 17, the third meeting of the working group was held in Moscow to discuss the environmental impact assessments provided by the Mongolian side of the hydroelectric construction project "On an additional study of the impact of the Egiin-Gol hydroelectric power plant project on the biodiversity of the Selenga River and Lake Baikal".

"The proposals of the authors of the final report on mitigation of the negative impact need to be finalized both from the point of view of technical feasibility and economic feasibility, and from the point of view of the impact on the hydrological regime of the Selenga River and the biodiversity of Lake Baikal," Sergey Anoprienko said.

During the meeting, Ivan Kushch, Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Climate Change of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, noted that more than 20% of the world's freshwater reserves are concentrated in Baikal, and a comprehensive study of the lake is of particular importance. In order to preserve and restore its biological diversity, reduce the anthropogenic load on the ecosystem, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia is implementing the federal project "Preservation of Lake Baikal". Among the measures are the reconstruction and construction of sewage treatment plants, the elimination of accumulated harm, increasing the coverage of the Baikal Natural Territory by state environmental monitoring, and more.

"Our side is ready to cooperate fully in measures to minimize possible negative consequences for Lake Baikal," said Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia Myagmarzhar Ganbaatar.

The Mongolian side expressed its readiness to promptly provide the Russian side with materials of additional studies on the environmental impact assessment of the Egiin-Gol hydroelectric power plant project. The parties intend to take all possible measures to prevent possible negative consequences for the UNESCO World Heritage Site – Lake Baikal.

The parties expressed their readiness to continue discussing projects for the construction of hydraulic structures planned in the transboundary basin of the Mongolian part of the Selenga River, on discussion platforms in Russia and Mongolia.

Intergovernmental agreements are being implemented between Russia and Mongolia in the field of environmental protection, transboundary water bodies, protection of forests from fires, as well as on the conservation of ecosystems of the Ubsunur Basin transboundary biosphere Reserve.

Author: Press Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia

Опубликовано: 17 October 2023