MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. The Arktikugol Trust Company expects more metal waste will be removed from Spitsbergen in 2026 due to involvement of the Clean Arctic project's volunteers and additional equipment, the company's Director General Ildar Neverov told TASS.

"As we have seen, when complex objects like heating mains in wooden boxes are dismantled, about 300 tons of scrap metal may be removed within one navigation season," he said. "This year, due to additional equipment and more efficient work process, we expect this amount will increase significantly within this navigation," he said.

Over decades of the archipelago's intensive development, especially during the Soviet period, Spitsbergen has accumulated a significant amount of facilities that have been decommissioned and require dismantling, he added.

"The Arktikugol Trust Company has been working to eliminate accumulated environmental damage. We annually clean up Russian settlements on the archipelago using force of our construction and installation department and the corporate volunteer movement. At the same time, the involvement of the Clean Arctic project's volunteers will speed up this work and expand environmental activities," he said.

The company has identified sites in Russian settlements where work will be organized, he continued. First of all, volunteers will be invited to take part in dismantling of outdated infrastructure in Barentsburg. In the future, work may be organized in the village of Piramida.

In addition to that, during the work, volunteers may visit the villages of Grumant and Coles Bay, where still remain Soviet industrial infrastructure facilities.

"In 1932, intensive development of an enterprise began in Grumant, and this year it marks the 95th anniversary. The village of Coles Bay was mothballed in the middle of last century, but there still remain elements of the former industrial infrastructure that have fallen into disrepair. We plan to dismantle carefully these facilities, taking into account the fragile Arctic natural landscape in order to minimize the impact on the environment. After the dismantling, Arktikugol's barge will transport the waste for subsequent industrial processing to the port of Barentsburg," the company's top manager said.

About Spitsbergen

Russia's operations on Spitsbergen continue for more than 90 years. The Arktikugol State Trust Company was founded in 1931. It produces 120,000 tons of coal per year. The company owns an area of 251 square kilometers.

Clean Arctic is a large-scale project to clean up the Arctic from waste accumulated there since Soviet times. Captain of the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear-powered Arctic-class icebreaker Dmitry Lobusov, and Gennady Antokhin, Captain on FESCO’s ships from 1982 to 2012, are the project’s authors. Clean Arctic has become a platform that unites public and volunteer organizations, scientists, governors and businesses. The project's partners are Norilsk Nickel, Rosatom, PhosAgro, and Russian Railways.