The last day of 2004 the Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov issued the regulation that finally determined the route of the united Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean oil pipeline system. The Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean project provides for the construction of the oil pipeline: the town of Taishet (Irkutsk region) – the town of Skovorodino (Amur region) - the Perevoznaya Bay (Primorsky Krai). The total capacity of the pipeline is up to 80 million tons of oil a year, total investment outlay is about 16 billion dollars. The pipeline is going to be constructed by 2008.

The Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean project has to pass several stages. The first stage is the construction of the Taishet - Skovorodino section of the pipeline. At the same time a terminal in Nakhodka is going to be constructed, where oil is to be transported to by railway. The second stage is the construction of the Skovorodino - Perevoznaya section. It can only be started after oil industry workers start industrial development of oilfields in Eastern Siberia and Yakutiya. The thing is the material base of the project is 24 million tons of oil from Western Siberia and 56 million tons from oil fields of Eastern Siberia and the Sakha Republic (Yakutiya), and most of them have not been developed yet (Mr. Fradkov entrusted the minister of natural resources Trutnev "to work out the program of geological exploration and use of hydrocarbon fields of Eastern Siberia and the Far East". The program, as well as the stage of the oil pipeline's construction, shall be endorsed by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Economic Development by May 1).

In official circles there are people critical about perspectives of transporting Siberian oil to Pacific terminals.

Their position was stated in an extensive report of the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS), formed by the order of the Ministry of Economic Development and published in late October 2004. The estimated cost of the construction increases every year, and then it was 15 billion dollars. Some time ago, when Moscow was trying to decide about the pipeline's destination - China or the Pacific Ocean - Japan several times declared its readiness to invest the construction. However, according to some information, Japan was actually interested in frustrating "the Chinese project". It achieved its aim: the "Angarsk–Datsyn" scenario actively promoted by Ukos was rejected. At the same time Japanese promises to invest the oil pipeline were forgotten.

It's not clear what a pipeline with the capacity of 80 million tons can be used for. According to CSS, "with the existing amount of confirmed oil stocks in the Eastern Siberian region, plans of constructing a new large oil pipeline infrastructure in the region are not real". Without oil fields in the Tomsk region, petroleum production in Eastern Siberia by 2010 will not exceed 25 million tons per year, while for the oil pipeline to be profitable at least 50 million tons have to be produced.

There are also serious ecological objections: the route of the oil pipeline is quite complicated: it crosses about 50 big and small rivers, tens of highways and railroads, mountain ranges... All this together with extreme climate conditions and high seismic activity in the territory (10-11 magnitude on the Richter scale) creates risks during the construction, use and provision of safety of the pipeline. The pipeline crosses the largest river of the Baikal basin - the Angara River. Even a small oil leakage, let alone a rupture of the oil pipeline, will result in pollution of not only the river itself, but also Lake Baikal. Residents of Khabarovsk will also be affected in case of an accident. According to the plan, the eastern pipe is to cross the Amur basin upstream the place where the town takes drinking water. In the Perevoznaya bay salmon spawns, and next to it there are the only in Russia sea reserve, "Kedrovaya Pad" reserve and "Barsovy" preserve.

Taking these facts into account, Russian ecologists were going to hold an environmental impact assessment of the pipeline, however they were not allowed to fulfill their right provided for by the federal law "On Public Assessment". The rejection was illegal, which an appropriate regulation of the RF Prosecutor's Office proves. There has been so far no public assessment of the project, registered by several regional and national environmental organizations, including WWF, Ecoyuris, Green Cross and Greenpeace, because necessary materials were not provided. "Public assessment" was held by a "friendly" charity organization "Public Ecology" that made a positive resolution.

The expert panel of the State environmental impact assessment also endorsed the project. Its chair Mr. Nikolaev said: "We were given three months to carry out the assessment; however, they hurry us and we finished it ahead of schedule". This is the evidence of serious pressure on the experts.

About the same time Russian ecological organizations sent an open letter to President Putin. The authors of the letter revealed facts of violation of the legislation and asked "the guarantor of the Constitution" to support the law and to protect the nature of Siberia and the Far East. There has been no significant reaction so far.

And here comes the last day of 2004. The government gave us a new year present. May the pipeline be!

Ecologists of the Irkutsk region once again called on the RF President Putin and the chair of the government Fradkov.

Greenpeace Russia joins the demands!