Russia effectuates partial restrictions on dairy imports from

MOSCOW, August 17 (Itar-Tass) - As of Monday, Russia's Federal Service
for Phytosanitary Inspection and Veterinary Supervision /Rosselkhoznadzor/
effectuates provisional restrictions on the imports of dairy products from
Lithuania.
The watchdog agency's press secretary, Alexei Alekseyenko recalled
that the decision to impose partial restrictions on dairy products from
the former Soviet Baltic republic had been taken after the detection of
traces of tetracycline in the curdles, butter, sour cream, and milk
produced there.
Tetracycline, a strong antibiotic is widely used in many countries of
the world but is banned in Russia.
"I'd like to stress this measures aims exclusively to support
protection of the Russian consumers' health from the exposure to hazardous
products and it doesn't have any political or protectionist underpinning,"
Alekseyenko said.
Rosselkhopznadzor has set up a group of experts ready to go to
Lithuania right now for inspecting the dairy factories that have interest
in exporting their produce to Russia.
On the whole, relations with Lithuanian partners are developing in
encouraging tones, and yet "it'd be desirable for the Lithuanian
authorities to realize that a long-term fruitful cooperation /in the
sphere of agricultural exports/ is impossible to achieve without a
scrupulous observance of all the sanitary and veterinary requirements
Russia sets forth."

. Accident at East-Siberian power plant claims six lives.

KRASNOYARSK, August 17 (Itar-Tass) - A total of six people have died
as a result of an accident at the Sayano-Shushenksaya hydropower plant on
the Yenisei River in East Siberia, Dmitry Kudryavtsev, the chief spokesman
for the Siberian regional center of the Ministry for Emergency Situations
said.
He indicated that another eight people had been injured.
All the victims are workers of the powerplant, Kudryavtsev said.

.Eurasia's biggest volcano ejects 5 km-tall column of ash.

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, August 17 (Itar-Tass) - Klyuchevskaya Sopka
volcano in Kamchatka, the highest active volcano in the entire Eurasia,
has ejected a column of ash to the altitude of 5.1 kilometers above sea
level, sources at the Kamchatka Volcano Eruption Response Team /KVERT/
told Itar-Tass.
The eruption was registered at 08:50 local time Monday /19:50 GMT
Sunday. People living in the town of Klyuchi, located 32 kilometers away
from the giant saw the ash rise to the altitude of 300 meters to 400
meters above the volcano's crater.
The ejection was accompanied by a quake inside the volcano's formation.
There is no risk for local population because of the spate of the
volcano's activity, exerts at the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical
Service reporting to the Russian Academy of Sciences said.
Klyuchevskaya Sopka has the height of 4,750 meters. Specialists say
that the splashes of activity it demonstrates from time to time this
summer are echoes of a major eruption that occurred in January when it
belched out clouds of ash and volcanic bombs, while rivers of lava
streamed down its slopes.
"The eruption didn't stop all of a sudden," an expert told Itar-Tass.
"The volcano's activity is reducing, yet its surges can be seen sometimes,
too."
"During nighttime one can see glow over the Klyuchevskaya Sopka's
summit," he said adding that red-hot lava is still present in its crater.
Specialists are keeping permanent watch over the volcano's activity.
They say it does not pose any threat to nearby population centers.
In the meantime, another of Kamchatka's spectacular volcanoes,
Koryaksky that is located a mere 28 kilometers from
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, started ejecting columns of vapor, gas and ash
to the altitude of around 4,000 above sea level.
The trail of gas and ash extends over a distance of almost 20
kilometers.
KVERT experts said does not pose any threat to nearby population
centers.
The cloud of vapor and gas is seen perfectly well from
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the trail extending westwards can be seen
clearly, too.
According to the information provided by the Geophysical Service
seismic activity at the volcano has exceeded the background parameters but
there is no strong activation yet.
Registering equipment started sending signals of growing seismic
tremors from the volcano in the night hours of Sunday and they might have
been caused by the admix of ash to the gas and vapors, experts said.
In the meantime, gas and vapor clouds containing volcanic ash may pose
risks for commercial aviation flights, and that is why all the services
and departments concerned have been warned that flying through the trails
extending from the volcano may be dangerous.
The Koryaksky volcano is 3,456 meters high. Its previous activation
occurred in 1956 and 1957.
Experts say the volcano witnessed powerful eruptions from 7,000 to
3,500 years ago.
-0-kle