Washington -- Despite growing environmental problems such as oil spills, contaminated drinking water and hazardous waste, Russian President Vladimir Putin has closed the country's environmental protection agency. His actions have caused environmental groups around the globe to demand that the World Bank halt payment of a recently approved $60 million loan to Russia.
Five days after Putin dissolved the State Committee for Environmental Protection and the Federal Forest Service in an apparent cost-cutting move, the World Bank approved a $60 million loan to the country.
In a letter signed by 67 mainly Russian organizations, including Friends of the Earth and Sierra Club of San Francisco, the groups argued that the World Bank should pressure Putin to reestablish the committee before handing over loan money.
Putin on May 17 dissolved the committee, which was responsible for monitoring all aspects of the environment except for nuclear safety. The former responsibilities of the committee now are under the control of the Ministry of Natural Resources, a group which helps with Russia's mining, oil and timber resources.
Saying on May 20 that he would be subordinating environmental concerns to the development of natural resources, President Putin completed his new Cabinet by appointing as energy minister a relative unknown, Alexander Gavrin, who has close ties to the country's biggest oil producer, LUKoil.
Putin's order does not transfer the environmental experts from the former state committee to the Ministry on Natural Resources.
"We urge you to issue an immediate moratorium on all new World Bank approvals for projects in Russia and suspend disbursements for all current Russian projects that impact the environment until the ramifications of these agencies' abolishment is fully known and until these agencies are fully restored,'' the letter said.
Environment problems in Russia include oil spills, contaminated drinking water, over-logging and huge, poorly stashed repositories of nuclear and chemical waste , much left over from the Cold War military buildup.
Bank spokesmen had no immediate comment on the letter which was dated July 11.
