MOSCOW, March 13 (AVN) - A prominent Russian lawmaker said on Tuesday he was sure that the government would raise funds for the Kursk submarine recovery.
"Unification of two problems - implementation of the EU environmental programme for scrapping nuclear waste in the Russian north-west and provision of funds by the West for the Kursk nuclear submarine recovery - is not only illogical, but also not exactly delicate in relation to this country," Vice Admiral Valery Dorogin told the Military News Agency.
Dorogin is a member of the State Duma lower house of parliament and the co-ordinator of the group of lawmakers in the government commission for investigation of the Kursk disaster. He was asked to comment on the statement of Kursk Foundation Secretary General Rio Praaning to the effect that Western Europe would take part in the recovery financing only in case Russia undertook to participate in the nuclear waste scrapping programme for the Russian north proposed by the European Union in 1999.
"If EU representatives indeed insist on such decision it is a sign on obvious pressure on Russia," the admiral stressed.
The delay in the transfer of the Russian share of funds for the Kursk recovery is caused by absence of appropriate allocations in the 2001 budget, Dorogin went on. Besides, the government lacks foreign currency reserves, he noted.
Dorogin said he was sure that the required USD25m would be found after all. "It is only necessary to make sure that the government does not withdraw the money from the Defence Ministry's budget," he stressed.
Asked about the term of the operation, the admiral said, "The months announced by Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov - August and September - are a relatively good period of time for the operation in the Barents Sea."
Dorogin is a former commander of the Troops and Forces of the Russian North-east.