Support The Moscow Times!

Putin’s Environmental Initiative Faces $4.5Bln Budget Cut

Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Region / Flickr

A national project to tackle environmental issues commissioned by President Vladimir Putin after his election earlier this year reportedly faces a $4.7 billion budget cut.

Putin issued a multi-pronged executive order in May to achieve a technological, environmental and economic breakthrough over his new six-year term in office. Following the president’s “May decrees,” the environmental ministry drafted a program that would focus on air pollution reduction, reforestation and increasing the recycling rate to 80 percent by 2024.

The 1.87 trillion ruble ($26 billion) budget that had been initially planned for the environmental project has seen a 17 percent cut, bringing it down to 1.55 trillion rubles, according to a draft presented to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev last week, the RBC news website reported Monday.

Half of the funding for the project’s clean water program has been slashed, according to RBC.

“Every kopek is a new treatment facility,” the website quoted an official familiar with the draft budget as saying.

Almost half of the program’s budget is expected to be funded by federal and regional governments, while industrial enterprises and other private sources are expected to contribute the remaining 800 million rubles.

An unnamed environment ministry source told RBC that the project’s funding could face further cuts.

Meanwhile, the clean air and Volga River recovery projects will face cuts of around 5 percent.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more