2014 is called the year of the Gulf of Finland.

2014 is called the year of the Gulf of Finland.

The year of the Gulf of Finland was opened with the Fifth International Forum "Ecology". This Forum of international significance was held in St. Petersburg. Several hundred experts, specialists, scientists, politicians and public figures from Russia and foreign countries discussed the challenges and identified fields of development in the area of environmental protection.

According to the Federal Service for Supervision of Nature in Russia, annually 52 cubic kilometers of wastewater are disposed of into Russian natural water reservoirs, of which only 19 cubic kilometers are being cleaned. In 2012, nearly 71 million rubles of punitive sanctions were brought against the violators. The Vyborg Bay was among the most difficult reservoirs in this sense.

 

According to the head of Federal Service on Supervision of Wildlife Management Vladimir Kirillov, active work is taking place in the St Petersburg area to aid the cleaning of wastewater. Special attention is being paid to the Gulf of Finland- agency employees strictly control the activities of the coastal pulp and paper mill (pulp and paper mills), located in Svetogorsk and in the village “Soviet”.

 

"Our agency has developed a number of activities. First, our country is a party to the protection of the Baltic Sea. The Vyborg Bay, as I had suggested in my report report, is the most polluted part of the Gulf of Finland. This is driven by the wastewaters that flow into it. At the same time, we have to note that year on year we are seeing improvement in the condition and quality of water reservoirs and bodies. In this particular instance, a lot of work is being done by the St. Petersburg “Vodokanal”. As we know, water treatment of phosphorus exceeds 95%", - reported Vladimir Kirillov.

 

Another important and active issue raised during the forum, was the impact of abnormally warm weather on the condition of rivers and lakes during spring floods. According to the Head of the Federal Agency of Water Resources Marina Seliverstova, severe flooding in the European part of the country was not expected by environmentalists due to minimal rainfall this winter. The repetition of the previous year's flood in the Leningrad region was, likewise, not predicted by head of the Federal Agency for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Alexander Frolov. According to him, even if snowfall were to occur in the near future, it would melt quickly without causing a serious threat.

The Forum " Ecology " is part of a project of the "United Russia" party entitled "St.Petersburg- the sea capital of Russia" and "Clean Water". At the moment the project has 73 representative offices throughout the country. According to the Deputy Coordinator of the Project "St. Petersburg - the sea capital of Russia" and the Project Leader of the "Clean water" project of the “United Russia” party Vladimir Potepun, the main goal of the forum was to find real solutions to environmental problems and to establish effective communication between society and authorities, specialists and investors.

 

It must be noted that the program of the Forum included such topics as "Water for housing and minimization of damage to public water supply", "Water resources for production processes and industrial wastewater treatment", which are interesting not only from the point of view of specialists, but also ordinary consumers.

 

The outcome of the Forum would be a resolution with proposals and recommendations on improvement of the legislation and state regulation in the sphere of ecology of water resources, which will be sent to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.