Press Release, 21.03.2018

At the meeting of Russian presidential candidates with President Putin held on 19 March, Yabloko party leader Grigory Yavlinsky drew Vladimir Putin’s attention to the aggravation of environmental problems in the Chelyabinsk region (in the Urals) in connection with the planned construction of Tominsky mining and refining plant.

On the eve of the voting day, on the last day of the election campaign on 16 March, Grigory Yavlinsky visited Chelyabinsk, where he voiced his stance on the construction a dangerous production facility in the suburbs of Chelyabinsk, a city with more than million of residents. According to Grigory Yavlinsky, this is a serious mistake, and not only it undermines the environmental security of the South Urals, but also reduces the investment attractiveness of Chelyabinsk. Tominsky mining and refining plant is supposed to be located in the green zone of Chelyabinsk (it is planned to cut down thousands of hectares of suburban forests), near the water reservoir – the main source of drinking water for 1.5 million people. Grigory Yavlinsky believes that this is extremely dangerous.

Environmentalists agree with the politician.

“There is a rule to be obeyed for sustainable development of any territory: new industrial enterprises should not worsen the environmental situation,” said Andrei Talevlin, Deputy Chairman of the regional branch of the Yabloko party, who specialises on environmental issues.

An way out of such a situation may be holding of a local referendum on the issue of location of Tominsky plant.

Chelyabinsk Yabloko activists are certain that the referendum will have a superior legal force, and the “Russian Copper Company” and the regional leadership lobbying this project will have to take into account the results of the will of the residents of the Sosnovsky district. Chairman of the Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko Yaroslav Shcherbakov noted that Grigory Yavlinsky always kept his word.

“This is reason number 131 – why I voted for Grigory Yavlinsky. He always keeps his word. At the meeting with voters on 16 March,  Grigory Yavlinsky promised to raise the issue of the construction of the Tominsky plant in the Chelyabinsk region at his first meeting with Vladimir Putin. He promised it and he did it,” Shcherbakov stressed.

The Yabloko party has already initiated a referendum on this issue in 2016. However, the deputies of the Sosnovsky Municipal District rejected this initiative. The Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko proposes to hold a referendum.