Brussels, 09/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - Participants at the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership Pledging Conference (NDEP), co-chaired by Chris Patten, European Commissioner at External Relations, Sergey Kolotukin, Russian Vice President for Finance and Jean Lemierre, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), were all of the opinion that the conference was a success. Meeting up on Tuesday with a view to setting up support funds for this international partnership for nature conservation and nuclear waste management in the Baltic Sea region, the Arctic Sea and the North West of Russia, the NDEP steering committee (European Commission, Russia, EBRD, the Nordic Investment Bank, EIB and the World Bank) and the rest of the donors achieved their goal. Pledges totalled EUR 110 million - ten million more than the participants were counting on - EUR 62 million will be reserved for nuclear projects.
Out of this total, the European Commission will commit EUR 50, while contributions from Russia, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden will provide EUR 10 million each. Other partners added that they would also be adding their contribution soon. Although the total cost of medium and long term NDEP projects are estimated to be around EUR 1.8 bn, everyone considered that an initial contribution of EUR 110 million to help obtain long-term loans from international financial institutions and local resources in order to deal with environmental problems and nuclear waste in the North West of Russia, was a good start as these funds are expected to have knock-on effect. All donors stressed, however, that the conclusion of the agreement on the Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Programme in Russia (MNEPR) constituted a preliminary condition for the implementation of NDEP nuclear-related operations. Consisting of a framework agreement and additional protocol on responsibility, the MNEPR is important because it aims to destroy nuclear arms inherited from the ex-USSR and will provide Western donors with a legal framework for their activities in the nuclear domain but it has yet not been signed by Russia. The Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, in opening the conference said: "The objective of the NDEP is to co-ordinate international action to deal with the colossal heritage of environmental damage bequeathed to the Nordic region. Numerous efforts have already begun to improve the environment in neighbouring candidate countries by way of financial pre-accession instruments. The NDEP is now focusing on Russia because of the absence of a parallel instrument in this case and because it's important to reduce the divide between the enlarged Union and this important partnership
12 projects have so far been identified in the environmental field (out of a total cost of EUR 1.3 bn) for improving the environment in the North West of Russia and neighbouring regions (reducing water and air pollution, protection of the marine environment, putting a brake on atmospheric pollution in Northern Europe). The Assembly of Contributors will be important in co-ordinating and prioritising investments to speed up the elimination of environmental hot-spots. A list of nuclear waste management projects has been drawn up in the region, as well as in the Barents Sea (estimated costs EUR 500 million).
Support funds will be managed by the EBRD and remain open to contributions from all countries. It is important for both improving the environment in the Northern region and for the G8 global partnership against the proliferation of weapons and materials for mass destruction.
During the conference, the Russian Vice Minister, Kolotukhin stressed that the creation of these funds constituted, "a first step in the resolution of environmental problems that are particularly critical in the North West of Russia and which have an influence in surrounding countries…It's a good start. It will speed up implementation of projects in the St-Petersburg and Kaliningrad regions. We hope that the future of these environmental projects funded by the funds will increase, just like Russia's contribution". The Russian Vice Minister also gave assurances that there would be "no major obstacle" to the signing of the MNEPR agreement by his country.
Jon Sigurosson, President of the Northern Investment Bank considered that the NDEP would offer a way of providing a way of implementing the G8 declaration on nuclear dangers in Russia. He also praised Finnish Prime Minister, Lipponen for having inspired the Northern dimension.
Mr Lemierre, for his part, insisted on the need, after the successful conference, to carry out the commitments by making funds rapidly available. Specifying that there will also be donations from the international financial institutions and commercial banks, he said that, "with 110 million euros, work could begin". In answer to questions on the number of loans needed to cover the total cost of NDEP, that is EUR 1.8 billion, he replied that more or less twice what is on the table is needed - that is, EUR 180-200 million in five years.
EUROPE recalls that a ministerial conference of the Northern Dimension will be held in Greenland on 28 August.