MAJOR NICKEL FACTORY IN NORTHERN RUSSIA TO BE MODERNIZED

KIRKENES, June 10 (Itar-Tass) - Modernization of the major nickel producing factory in the north of European Russia, Pechenganikel, will be over by 2011, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here Monday after talks with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Stoere. He recalled that Russian inspecting agencies last year told the management of the factory located in the town of Nickel, Murmansk region, to cut down the manufacturing facility load factor and to slash the discharges of waste contaminating the air. "These were the immediate measures to be taken," Lavrov said. He also said that, under the existing plans, the reconstruction and modernization of the facility should be over by 2011.