Gazprom, the major financer for Russia’s natural gas pipeline that would bisect the Ukok Plateau en route to China, appears to have dropped the project for 2012.

An opinion piece published by Al Jazeera yesterday gives an in-depth review on the threat by Russian company Gazprom to build a gas pipeline between Russia and China through the sacred Ukok Plateau. 

Read the article here.

In this new video, the Telengit people share their ancient culture and its relevance in their lives today. See our action alert about the pipeline that threatens the Ukok Plateau here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcmLKkE9CFc

November 8, 2011- According to WWF-Russia, Gazprom’s European projects meet higher standards for environmental protection and transparency than its projects inside Russia. The Nord Stream offshore pipeline, to be inaugurated tomorrow, will carry natural gas from Russia to Europe.

November 8, 2011– On today’s Moscow Times Opinion page,  the co-founder of Russia’s Party of People’s Freedom blasted the Medvedev government and the state oil company, Gazprom, for violating national laws and international accords. Vladimir Ryzhkov also hinted at corruption in the government’s project to build a natural gas pipeline across the Ukok Plateau, despite its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Ryzhkov served as a State Duma representative from 1993 to 2007 and currently hosts a political radio talk show.

October 31, 2011- In reply to a letter from Cultural Survival, Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment acknowledged “high ecological risks” in the proposed construction of a natural gas pipeline across the Ukok Plateau, reiterating its preference for alternate routes. The letter, signed by N.R.

The Altai Project reports that Russian energy giant Gazprom has begun intensive surveying work on a controversial natural gas pipeline from Russia to China even though the Russian Natural Resources ministry has voiced concerns that the pipeline would violate UNESCO conventions and recommended alternative routes be studied.