ST. PETERSBURG, April 10. /TASS/. The Norilsk Nickel Mining and Metallurgical Company (Nornickel) plans to invest more than 150 billion rubles ($2.3 billion) in processing sulphur dioxide at its Polar Division’s facilities, the company’s Vice President Dmitry Pristanskov told the international Arctic forum on Tuesday.

"The Northern Project is absolutely non-commercial, it is a part of the national Ecology project," the company’s representative said. "The company plans to attract more than 150 billion rubles in Russian technologies to cut sulphur dioxide emissions by 75%."

TASS wrote earlier that under the Clear Air federal project, which is a part of the Ecology national project, Nornickel would invest in cutting emissions in Norilsk about 123 billion rubles ($1.9 billion).

The Northern Project is a project to cut sulphur dioxide emissions at Nornickel’s Polar Division. It is the biggest ecology task under the program to upgrade the company’s industrial assets. Nornickel aims to cut sulphur dioxide emissions at the Polar Branch by 75% - by more than 1.5 million tonnes a year. The project continues to 2022, the planned capacity is due in 2023.

The Russian government has announced 12 national projects - Demography, Culture, Healthcare, Education, Housing and Urban Environment, Ecology, Roads, Labor Productivity and Employment Support, Science, Digital Economy, Small and Medium Business, International Cooperation and Export. These projects are to be implemented to 2024.

St. Petersburg is hosting the Arctic: Territory of Dialogue 5th International Arctic Forum on April 9-10. ‘The Arctic. The Ocean of Opportunities’ is the forum’s theme in 2019. Roscongress is the official organizer, while TASS is a primary information partner and the official photo hosting provider.