People of Tuva look forward to holding a referendum to amend the Republic’s Constitution, but there are unexpected difficulties in the process. Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Plant broke the calm life of Irkutsk Region and Buryatia. There are many protesters fighting to not let resume production. Copper, molybdenum and gold deposits have become more accessible in Zabaikalsky Region. Learn more in the weekly report by FederalPress.
People of Tuva look forward to holding a referendum to amend the Republic’s Constitution, but there are unexpected difficulties in the process. Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Plant broke the calm life of Irkutsk Region and Buryatia. There are many protesters fighting to not let resume production. Copper, molybdenum and gold deposits have become more accessible in Zabaikalsky Region. Learn more in the weekly report by FederalPress.
Referendum
Referendum in the Republic of Tuva is causing public confusion. Apart from the official citizen initiative group there is another one, which also tried to register in the election commission of Tuva. The registration was not completed due to a number of falsifications in the submission package. Some signatures were fake, and several addresses did not correspond to real places of residence of the initiative group members.
If there is more than one group of citizen registered to set up referendum, its actual date will be postponed until a special decree of the Constitutional Court. Obviously, the second group was meant to slow down the referendum; at least, this is what the local political observers state.
Economic Forum
Annual Economic Forum was held in Krasnoyarsk last week. Although this is a federal level event, there were little participants from the center of Russia. Among top-profile officials FederalPress sighted only Igor Shuvalov, vice-chairman of the Russian Government, and Alexander Khloponin, ex-governor of the region and current PPE in the Northern Caucasus.
Two meetings
City of Irkutsk was shaken by two public gatherings last week. Both took place in the center of the city on one and the same day. A group of ecologists held a protest meeting against the launch of production at Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Plant. At the same time, a group of workers proclaimed appeals to resume operations at the Plant and let people back to work. Both parties promised to continue fighting for their interests in the future.
A letter to the Prime Minister
The situation at Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Plant echoed in the neighboring Buryatia. Deputies of the Republic’s parliament addressed an official request to Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin asking not to resume work of this chemical facility.
Buryatia’s deputies fear that the work of the Plant will cast negative influence over the development of the tourist SEZs Baikal Harbor and Gates to Baikal. They claim that investors are ready to fully stop construction works in the zones, on the shore of Baikal.
Nature treasures
Governor of Zabaikalsky Region Ravil Geniatulin, vice-chairman of the regional government Evgeny Vishnyakov and heads of regional ministries went to south-eastern part of the region to officially open a newly built section of the railway Borzya-Lugokan (part of Naryn-Lugokan road).
The railway Naryn-Lugokan is going to play the leading role in the development of natural resources of the region. South-east of Zabaikalsky Region presents large deposits of copper, molybdenum, lead, silver and other metals.
Among biggest iron fields one finds copper sulfide fields (Bystrinskoe, Kultuminskoe, Lugokanskoe), gold-antimonide deposit (Solonechenskoe), and gold-molybdenum-porphyry field (Bugdainskoe).