MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia's environmental inspectorate plans criminal proceedings against the operator of the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project over "barbaric" environmental damage caused by pipeline construction, a senior inspector has been quoted as saying.
But Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested at a conference Thursday that a dispute between Russian authorities and foreign companies involved in the project could be settled through dialogue.
The deputy head of the inspectorate, Oleg Mitvol, was quoted by Interfax as saying Thursday: "We want a criminal case to be opened for every destroyed tree, every river.
"If a criminal case is opened for every section then the company will respect the criminal code, will understand and will stop this barbaric work," Mitvol said during a visit to Sakhalin island in the Russian far east.
AFP
