18:23, 19 February 2015

Sochi put under state of emergency

Palm tree in Sochi severely damaged by insects. Photo by Svetlana Kravchenko for the ‘Caucasian Knot’

The local state of emergency has been introduced in Sochi in connection with the massive spread of pests.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that after the 2014 Winter Olympic Games held in Sochi last February local ecologists drew attention to the spread of insect pests never earlier observed in Western Caucasus.

According to the Environmental Council of Sochi, 20 pest varieties were imported into the city. On February 11, Sergey Donskoy, the head of the Russia's Ministry of Nature, said that his ministry had addressed the prosecutor's office asking to establish the persons involved in the import of the pests.

The state of emergency has been introduced in Sochi by the order of the city Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov starting from today, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

It is planned to attract professionals from Sochi scientific research institutes to identification of pests, while the scientific staff of the Institute of Floriculture and Subtropical Crops should design measures to combat the insects in the municipal territory, the "Max-Portal" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Svetlana Kravchenko

Source: CK correspondent