British aid for Russian ‘eco disaster’

BRITISH taxpayers are expected to offer a
Britain’s Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) has agreed, in principle, to underwrite it, and John Hutton, the secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, is expected to make a final decision within weeks.

Sakhalin II has angered environmentalists on several counts. The construction of three giant oil and gas rigs is said to have endangered the last population of western Pacific grey whales. Two pipelines, running almost the full 590-mile length of Sakhalin Island, north of Japan, have damaged pristine rivers and forests.

Peter Ainsworth, Conservative environment spokesman, said: “I am very concerned about the ECGD. We should not be using taxpayers’ money to support projects that contribute to climate change and could help make an entire species extinct.”

Sunday Times (London)