MOSCOW. March 16 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia should establish a federal environmental service, Sergei Mitrokhin, deputy chairman of the Yabloko Party, told reporters on Tuesday.
"Russia has yet to establish a department, specializing in environmental control. Until recently a similar establishment was subordinate to the Environment Protection Ministry, which rendered the environment protection service inefficient. It is essential to establish a federal environmental service, supervising departments and organizations, which may harm environment," Mitrokhin told a news conference devoted to chemical disarmament.
According to Mitrokhin, establishment of such a department would be in line of the ongoing administrative reform, aimed at establishing a three-stage governmental body system (ministries, services, agencies).
"Should an environmental control state service be established, many issues, including chemical disarmament, would be much easier to solve," Mitrokhin said.
According to him, neither does Russia have necessary laws, regulating chemical disarmament.
"The process of chemical disarmament in Russia is not regulated by corresponding laws. Only 13 of the required 30 documents have been adopted," Mitrokhin said.
According to him, this results in various violations in the sphere of environmental protection, upholding rights of citizens, living near the existing chemical weapons disposal facility and those under construction, as well as various offenses, including embezzlement.
The discussion on chemical disarmament also saw participation of Svyatoslav Zabelin, a member of the human rights commission under the Russian president, and Lev Fedorov, an independent ecologist.