Russian ecologists organized a coalition...

It involved the nation"s leading statesmen and literary men and forced the Soviet government to promise a halt to pulp production by 1993.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 delayed the decision, and it was only in October 2008 that the plant switched over to a closed water cycle, preventing the discharge of waste into the lake.

In late December 2009, the Baikal mill started testing its new equipment.

In February, parliament members from Russia"s Siberian republic of Buryatia sent Putin a letter requesting him to rescind his decision to reopen the mill.

MOSCOW, March 10 (RIA Novosti)