Hundreds of people protested on Sunday in Moscow against the reopening of a factory environmentalists say will lead to waste being dumped into the world's oldest lake, a Greenpeace activist said.
"The fate of (factory) workers must be decided while taking into account the fate of (Lake) Baikal — and not that of the oligarchs," Russian writer Valentin Rasputin said in a message read out during the protest.
Greenpeace activist Evgeny Usov put the number of protesters at nearly 1,000.
The cellulose factory, on the shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia, was closed in October 2008, but Prime Minister Vladimir Putin authorised its reopening earlier this year.
It was controlled until recently by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, but he announced in February that slightly more than a quarter of his capital was transferred to one of his partners, making him a minority shareholder.
The state holds a 49 percent stake.
Cellulose is used to manufacture a range of products, including paper.
Environmentalists say its reopening will allow waste water to be dumped into the lake and rubbish to be burned on its shores.
Lake Baikal, a UN World Heritage site, is believed to be 25 million years old. It is the world's deepest and contains 20 percent of the globe's total unfrozen freshwater reserves, according to UNESCO.
On Saturday, nearly 200 people turned out in central Saint Petersburg as environmental organisations warned of turning the lake into waste water.
Nearly 700 people turned out to back Putin's decision in the town of Baikalsk, where the mill is located.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
