ST. PETERSBURG, September 18. /TASS/. The Murmansk Region's enterprises cut emissions into the atmosphere by 30% over the past five years. The main polluter, The Kola Mining and Metallurgical Company (Kola MMC, a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel) cut emissions by 5.7 times, Governor Andrey Chibis said.

"The Murmansk Region ranks third in Russia's National Environmental Rating. We are doing everything, developing the economy and at the same time we are implementing powerful projects to cut the anthropogenic impact on nature. Our largest polluter, the Kola Mining and Metallurgical Company, has cut emissions by 5.7 times in recent five years thanks to the upgrade, the company has implemented due to benefits that we provided. Generally speaking, all our industries have cut emissions into the atmosphere by 30% over five years," the governor said.

Over the past five years, the region has restored 7,000 hectares of forests in the Kola Arctic, cleaned more than 200 km of the World Ocean coastline. "This litter from the World Ocean comes to us every year. And every year, special teams, companies and our volunteers make our Arctic coast cleaner. The demand for cleanliness is growing," he added.

In 2022, the Norilsk Nickel Company (Nornickel) announced it intended to cut emissions on the Kola Peninsula by 90% by 2025 against 2015. Against 2021, SO2 emissions have decreased by 14%. The company announced it had closed the smelting and metallurgical facilities on the Kola Peninsula, as a result, sulfur dioxide emissions from the Kola Division in 2021 decreased by 78% against 2020 and by 90% against 2015.