Press Release, 9.08.2021

Photo: Nikolai Rybakov, Grigory Gribenko, Chairman of the Irkutsk branch of Yabloko, and Yabloko activists are cleaning the shore of Lake Baikal

As part of the visit of the Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov to the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia on August 9, 2021, within the framework of his election campaign tour, Yabloko cleaned the shore of Lake Baikal in the city of Baikalsk, Irkutsk region. Nikolai Rybakov, together with Grigory Gribenko, Chairman of the Irkutsk regional branch of the party, and Yabloko activists, cleaned up a part of the Baikal shore from garbage in the town of Baikalsk, Irkutsk region.

Nikolay Rybakov has been taking part in actions in defence of Lake Baikal for a long time. For example, in 2010, Rybakov (he was the Executive Director of the environmental human rights center Bellona), together with the leaders of Greenpeace Russia and WWF, handed over to the UNESCO leadership 125,000 signatures of Russians collected in defence of Lake Baikal.

“We were told that there was no garbage on the shores of Lake Baikal, that work was underway, and garbage was being collected. But when we arrived, we saw plastic packages, cans and bottles that tourists left on the shore without cleaning up after themselves. Baikal has been damaged for decades. It has been also polluted by the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill, but the garbage left by tourists does not cease to be a problem. We can help Baikal. When you come here, take away garbage after others, and do not leave behind new heaps of waste,” Nikolai Rybakov said.

During the action, Yabloko activists collected ten bags of garbage and divided it into fractions: plastic, glass, and mixed waste.

“The amount of garbage on the shores of Lake Baikal, which is left behind by fishermen and vacationers, is striking. This is not the way to treat our property – the nature of the Baikal region. However, the problem is systemic. We need an integrated approach to waste management. It is high time to think about creating an infrastructure for servicing and cleaning the lake, ” Grigory Gribenko said.

The collected garbage was taken to the sorting facility in the city of Ulan-Ude in the Republic of Buryatia.

It should be noted that Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov is on a working visit to Siberia. Previously, he visited Krasnoyarsk (https://www.yabloko.ru/regnews/krasnoyarsk/2021/08/06 ), Irkutsk, Usolye-Sibirskoye (https://www.yabloko.ru/regnews/irkutsk/2021/08/07 ), Shelekhov, Slyudyanka, Baikalsk, and Selenginsk (https://www.yabloko.ru/blog/2021/08/08-0 ). As part of his visit to Buryatia, Rybakov met with Yulia Zhambalova, Human Rights Ombudsman in Buryatia, as well as voters and journalists.