INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian local authorities are setting up summer season trips for handicapped children at Black Sea resort destinations heavily impacted by
last months oil spill, despite warnings from federal officials that the impacted locations will not fully recover and be safe for tourists
In the southern Volgograd region, local media reported that authorities invested at least 16 million rubles ($163,000) to send out 160
orphans, handicapped kids and homeless kids to the resort city of Anapa, which is bearing the force of the oil spill.Plans for extra federal
government contract bids suggest local authorities aim to spend approximately 26 million rubles ($265,300) on similar journeys for
handicapped children.Across Russia, local federal governments havespent over 300 million rubles ($3 million) on childrens getaways to Black
Sea resorts in the 2 weeks following the oil spill, The Moscow Times Russian service reported last month.Thousands of lots of heavy fuel oil
began spilling into the Black Sea on Dec
15 after two Russian tankers were harmed in a storm off the coast of the southern Krasnodar region
President Vladimir Putin and scientists alike have actually explained it as one of the worst environmental catastrophes to hit Russia in
current decades.Russias environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzorsaidlast week thatit would file a lawsuit against those accountable for the
spill however did not divulge which individuals or entities it prepares to take to court
The two oil tankers were run by Volgatransneft, while the heavy fuel oil on board the ships belonged to the state oil firm RosneftVolunteers
have removed more than 170,000 metric tons of contaminated soil and sand from affected areas given that the spill last month
Environment Minister Alexander Kozlov informed Putin Friday that clean-up operations will not be finished until the summertime of 2026.
