NOVO-OGAREVO, July 15. /TASS/. There is still a lot of environmental problems in the national metals industry but the sector is dealing with them, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"It is a matter of principle that the sector is paying increasingly higher attention to environmental safety issues," the head of state said. "Nevertheless, certainly, there is a need to recognize that there are still many problems in this sphere," Putin noted.
"It is important for metallurgic businesses to make a more active transition to modern technologies and equipment," the Russian leader said. "We are implementing the Clean Air Federal Project for this purpose," he noted. "I expect that producers will deliver all the commitments assumed by them on the technology upgrade and reduction of the harmful burden on the environment, which will improve industry’s efficiency on the whole," Putin stressed.
"There is a need to ramp up deep conversion of metals, expand the output of high-technology metal products, and increase the added value at domestic plants," he added.