On November 15, 2019, the Russian branch of Greenpeace

On November 15, 2019, the Russian branch of Greenpeace sent a request to the presidential administration not to transfer a site of 50 thousand hectares from the protected area of the Yugyd Va National Park for gold mining. According to eco-activists, industrialists can destroy the ecosystem of the the Virgin Komi ForestsВ UNESCO World Heritage Site. 105 thousand people signed a petition launched by activists for the preservation of the Park in its current form.

On December 26, the presidential administration sent a response stating that the withdrawal of part of the land from the National Park contradicts the current legislation and international obligations. Border changes must be approved in advance by UNESCO.

Ecologist Ivan Ivanov told 7x7 that the response of the presidential administration was a "surprise" in modern Russia, although he explained that officials could not have given any other solution. According to him, with the support of major investors and government agencies, such as the Komi Ministry of Natural Resources, gold miners will not stop trying to withdraw land. As an example, he cited the non-execution of the decision of the Komi Commercial Court, which obliged the Gold Minerals Company to take out the equipment:

- The Park has two protection mechanisms. Our legislation, which protects natural areas, and the international treaty, the status of a world heritage site. Even if they overcome our things, they will still have to face UNESCO. There are other mechanisms, risks, and the reputation of the state.

In the summer of 2019, the Gold Minerals Company (Cyprus) demanded that the Minister of Natural Resources withdrew almost 50 thousand hectares of land from the National Park in the Kozhim basin for the development of the Chudnoye deposit and new territories. The Ecology All-Russian Research Institute, subordinated to the Ministry of Natural Resources, was instructed to justify the land withdrawal.

According to Greenpeace Russia, the Gold Minerals Company, which was going to mine gold, planned to get permission to use the Park's land by November 2019. Environmentalists believe that land withdrawal from Yugyd Va is contrary to the law even under the guise of expanding the protected area (by joining neighboring forests).

According toВ Greenpeace Russia, specializedВ Russian authorities have extended the license ofВ the Gold Minerals Company for the Chudnoye deposit inВ Yugyd VaВ until 2021.

The Yugyd Va National Park was established in 1994, it is included in the Virgin Komi ForestsВ UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In October 2018, Sergey Gaplikov, the head of the Komi Republic, asked the Minister of Natural Resources to help change the borders of the National Park in order to withdraw gold deposits from its territory and replace them with the lands of the Vuktyl and Pechora-Ilych forestry.

The government ofВ KomiВ triedВ toВ implement aВ project for gold mining inВ Yugyd VaВ several times, despite the ban ofВ industrial works inВ the reserve.

InВ September 2019, Minister ofВ Natural Resources ofВ KomiВ Roman PolshvedkinВ spoke inВ favor ofВ conducting any activity inВ the national park exclusively byВ law, inВ compliance with all norms. But atВ the same time, heВ admittedВ the presence ofВ aВ political component inВ the problem ofВ preserving the national park.

Activists of Greenpeace brought more than 100 thousand signatures for the preservation of the Yugyd Va National Park in Komi to the presidential administration

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