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Finland allocates over 4 mln euros for wastewater treatment project

Plans are to bring the level of wastewater treatment to 98 percent by 2013, which is in line with recommendations of the HELCOM ecological commission

HELSINKI, November 24 (Itar-Tass) — Finland allocates about 4.6 million euros to finance supplies of equipment within the framework of the wastewater treatment project in St. Petersburg, sources from the Finnish Ministry of the Environment told reporters on Thursday.

They said the decision had been made to allocate 4.57 million euros that would be used to supply pumping equipment for the sewage tunnel. The pumping equipment will be supplied by KSB Finland OY, which will also control the installation and commissioning of that equipment as well as will train personnel.

The money will be allocated within the framework of a major wastewater treatment project, the aim of which is to prevent the discharge of untreated sewage into Neva and this prevent the pollution of the Gulf of Finland.

Plans are to bring the level of wastewater treatment to 98 percent by 2013, which is in line with recommendations of the HELCOM ecological commission. The Helsinki Commission works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental cooperation between Denmark, Estonia, the European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

At the present moment, this figure is 93 percent. Starting from 1991 the government of Finland has allocated for the implementation of that project a total of 30 million euros, while the total amount of Scandinavian investments in the project is about 330 million euros.

According to Finnish Minister of Environment Ville Niinisto, the project makes it possible to reach visible results in the improvement of ecological condition of the Gulf of Finland.

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