Household waste transporters of Arkhangelsk Oblast announced that they were going to suspend their work from May 16 due to the inattention of the new acting head of the region, Alexander Tsybulsky, to their conflict with the regional provider. Community "Pomorye is not a Dump!" reported this on May 15.
It is indicated in an open letter to Alexander Tsybulsky which was published by transporters that as the waste management reform started, the Ecointegrator regional waste handling provider, created in Arkhangelsk Oblast, began working with local companies via Ecoprofi, a Moscow organization. Local SMW transporters believe that due to such intermediation, local companies receive less profit than due and a large portion of money goes to Moscow. At the same time, the Ecoprofi company itself, according to the authors, does not have its own equipment in the region and is not engaged in waste removal directly.
The authors of the appeal stated that they had had high hopes for the new head of the region and had written several appeals to explain the problem to him. According to the transporters, the acting governor have not responded to these demands, so they have to be going on strike from May 16.
— We demand that the regional provider pay for the services provided by transporters in full in keeping with actual amounts of removed waste, the regional provider making direct contracts with transporters for the transportation of SMW and EcoProfi being excluded from the process, — state the authors of the appeal.
Due to the introduction of such a scheme of working with a regional provider, according to the transporters, they were nearly bankrupt and exhausted their financial and material resources within four and a half months of working.
Waste management reform began in Arkhangelsk Oblast in 2020. Just like in other regions that started this earlier, it provides for the creation of a single provider in the region which is responsible for waste removal throughout the region.
