Visit of the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) delegation

October 18, 2018

Visit of the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation delegation

On October 15, experts from the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) visited Moscow. The agenda included visit to the production site of the UNIDO / GEF / Russian Railroads JSC project “Environmentally Sound Management and Final Disposal of PCBs at Russian Railroads network and Other PCBs Owners”, as well as negotiations on joining the UNIDO and NEFCO efforts regarding implementation of the Stockholm Convention on POPs in the Russian Federation.

At the joint meeting the UNIDO consultants, the management of Russian Railroads JSC and TransWoodService JSC — a branch of Russian Railroads, and NEFCO experts discussed prospects for cooperation between the parties in terms of the destruction of PCBs in the Russian Federation, including in its Arctic zone. The parties agreed to sign the Joint Declaration on Cooperation for the purpose of implementation the Stockholm Convention on POPs provisions.

During the meeting, the possibilities of Russian Railroads JSC and its branch — TransWoodService JSC for storage, transportation and disposal of waste of I-II hazard classes were discussed. The head of the Department of Occupational Safety, Industrial Safety and Environmental Control of Russian Railroads JSC, Mr. Petr Potapov, noted the company’s commitment to the goals and objectives of the UNIDO / GEF project and the high importance of the project for development of a POPs management system in the country.

A delegation of NEFCO experts visited the production site of Manikhino power sub-station, where the commissioning tests of the Plant for PCBs decontamination from transformer oils are carried out. The plant is supplied to Russian Railroads JSC as part of the technical assistance within UNIDO project. The NEFCO experts noted that the recycling of transformer ois after PCBs decontamination, that is to be provided by facility, is extremely important in terms of reduction of unintentional POPs and greenhouse gases emissions into the atmosphere, as well as for decrease in resource consumption.

Following the meeting, the parties agreed to continue interaction and develop joint activities in POPs management in the country.