June 4, 07

NEWS / Putin says environmental claims on BP over Kovykta justified

President Putin believes that the Natural Resources Ministry’s claims on the BP company connected with the development of the Kovytkinsky deposit are justified, but the president could not say yet what would be the outcome of a probe. In an interview with foreign mass media, President Putin called on all companies to work in Russia in compliance with the law.

"If the parties to this consortium do nothing to implement the license how (on Kovykta’s development), how long should we wait," Putin noted. "It is clear that the Natural Resources Ministry has been raising the question of withdrawing the license, Putin said.

The negotiations are going on yet, and I do not know what it will result in, the president admitted. I do not know yet what the Natural Resources Ministry and the company’s shareholders will decide, Putin said.

Every country has definite rules of work with natural resources, they exist in Russia as well. If someone thinks that Russia is a place where these rules can be ignored it is wrong, the president stressed.