Yukos to Play the Role of God»

There are new problems for the Yukos oil company. It has been asked to make the tundra green. The Ministry for Natural Resources has instructed two Yukos subsidiaries working in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area to solve a problem that has left them baffled. Inessa Zemler reports.

The two subsidiaries have been told to make the territory around a water intake well in an extraction area green. The instruction has to be carried out by the 2nd of February. This was reported by the internet newspaper Gazeta.ru. The document sent to the company says that if the instruction is not carried out, those responsible will be prosecuted in accordance with current legislation. One of the companies took a philosophical approach to the ministry's order. "We are fully aware of the state importance of this order," said a representative of the enterprise. However, he pointed out that: "Winter in Yamal is cold and lasts about eight months. The minimum temperature is as low as minus 59 degrees Celsius." In these conditions, the representative says, it is hard to make the tundra green. For myself, I would say it is impossible. So the companies will have to be ready to face prosecution for the absence of green plantations on the tundra in mid-winter.

Meanwhile, as Gazeta.ru pointed out, a prosecutor at the area nature protection service, Aleksandr Kaliberda, said earlier that the commission did not uncover any "supernatural" violations.