MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. A priority project on protection and conservation of the Lake Baikal titled "Great lake of the great country" may be approved shortly, Minister of Natural Resources Sergei Donskoi told reporters on Tuesday.

"Specific assignments have already been made, which should be implemented this year. A program or a priority project [titled] "Great lake of the great country" regarding Baikal should be approved this year and it will take place shortly," the minister said.

The project is dedicated to resolution of both environmental and socioeconomic issues and is "a kind of continuation" of the federal program on Baikal conservation," Donskoi added.

About 2 bln rubles ($33.2 mln) were spent last year within the framework of the federal program for Baikal conservation. The "amount is significantly greater" this year, the minister said. "Not merely shores should be cleaned but other issues should also be settled," he added.

The Ministry also plans to undertake measures to protect the Baikal cisco - the endemic fish of the Lake Baikal.