The Russian Federal Service for Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) has collected RUR 2.2 bln ($34.8 mio) in environmental taxes paid by corporations for production waste disposal. This was announced on Thursday, July 11, by Tatyana Kuznetsova, Head of the Directorate for State Oversight and Waste Management and Biodiversity Regulation at Rosprirodnadzor, who spoke at the roundtable meeting “Manufacturers’ expanded liability: waste management” at TASS.
Tatyana Kuznetsova noted that last year the service collected RUR 2.5 bln ($39.6 mio) in environmental taxes. This year RUR 2.2 bln ($34.8 mio) has been collected so far but the collection period is not over. She clarified that the federal service only collects the levies but does not manage them. The money then goes to the federal budget where it will be administered.
Russian Environmental Operator CEO Alexei Makrushin added that according to law the money raised from the environmental taxes must be distributed between regions to spend on environmental programs.
“Each region will receive RUR 30 mio ($475.5K) on average. It is a drop in the bucket, not even enough for a waste sorting unit,” the expert noted.
He added that the parties involved are discussing how to spend this money more efficiently.
“This money must be spent on creating waste processing infrastructure instead of just disappearing in the budget,” Alexei Makrushin concluded.