ST. PETERSBURG, June 10. /TASS/. The Norilsk Nickel Company (Nornickel) is ready to begin construction of a new town - Tukhard - on the Taymyr Peninsula in the Krasnoyarsk Region's north in 2024 after the company has finalized talks with regional authorities on how big a hospital or school will be in the new settlement, the company's Vice President Andrey Grachev said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The Tukhard village began growing spontaneously late last century. At that time, the North's low-numbered indigenous peoples settled in temporary housing for workers near facilities of Norilskgazprom (Nornickel's subsidiary) due to nearby communications and household amenities. The settlement turned out to be within the enterprise's sanitary protection zone.
"Right now we are at the stage of coordinating our plans for Tukhard with the Krasnoyarsk Region's government <...>. We have been discussing with them whether we should build a huge school and hospital in Tukhard, or rather at first study what the locals need. Not to be in a situation where we build a school for 1,000 students and only 20 people study there. We are finalizing these two issues and, I think, in the near future, within a month, we will approach the main stage (construction - TASS)," the company's vice-president said.
The project has passed the procedures of free, prior and informed consent, which the company had undergone when determining location for the new settlement.
Right now, about 1,000 people live in the village, together with reindeer herders. The local school is for students of first four years, and afterwards kids have to leave for Dudinka to continue education there. The village does not have a managing company.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) took place on June 5-8. This year’s theme was "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World." Events included meetings for small and medium-sized businesses, creative industries, the SPIEF Youth Day, as well as the Drug Security, SPIEF Academy and SPIEF Junior forums. SPIEF was organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS was the event's information partner.