Belsat TV: Brest car battery plant remains without official permission to work

An ad hoc government commission was expected to sign an act allowing the car battery plant to launch on May 28. However, the document was not signed, TV channel Belsat reports quoting the protesters.

Deputy director of the state ecological expertise Yauhen Racheuski has not signed the act, activist Zmitser Bekalyuk says. “It means that the ecological safety of the plant has not been confirmed and that its functioning may do harm to the environment. That is why the permission has not been granted,” Bekalyuk explains.

The car battery plant's owner has tried getting the permission to work thrice. The previous attempts were made in February and at the end of April. The next possible date is June 11. 

Meanwhile, the plant has started functioning illegally this month, activists insist. A group of activists is watching the plant 24/7 and recording all the violations.

People started protesting against the plant built by the company IPower in February 2018. They gather every Sunday. The collection of signatures for the appeal that will be sent to the President started at a protest action on May 26. Activists would like to change the enterprise that can do harm to people’s health and the environment. For instance, they have suggested moving part of the foundry “Bresttransgaz” or one of the workshops of the Brest electric-bulb plant to the location of the battery plant.