MOSCOW, February 29. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has set a target for reducing the volume of harmful atmospheric pollutants in the country by half.

"As you know, under the Clean Air Project, 12 industrial centers in Russia have managed to reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Since last year, another 29 cities have joined the project. In the country as a whole, the volume of harmful emissions into the atmosphere should be halved," he said in his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly, or Russian parliament.

According to the president, it is necessary to take step-by-step actions to achieve this goal. A comprehensive system of environmental quality monitoring will be established to evaluate the results. Over the past five years, thousands of kilometers of rivers and riverbanks have been cleaned, and polluted runoff into the Volga River has been reduced by almost half, Putin added.