Radiy Khabirov again explained his decision on Shikhans

UFA, 23 January 2019. /Bashinform News Agency/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/.

Acting Head of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov gave an interview to the Vedomosti newspaper. The head of the region explained again his decision on Shikhans (monadnocks) - to give one of the Shikhans, Mount Kushtau, to the Bashkir Soda Company (BSC), having kept Tratau, which they requested, intact.

“There is a company that is among the five largest in the country, with a large number of employees. And in the near future, it will start to experience problems with raw materials. The second problem: BSC claims for a number of natural objects. I would never let the Yuraktau and Tratau Shikhans be used”, said Radiy Khabirov.

The head of the republic emphasized that he was against politicizing the situation. In his opinion, Tratau is of particular importance not only for the Bashkirs, but for all the peoples of the republic. Radiy Khabirov said that he had scrutinized the matter thoroughly, talked a lot with the BSC management, with environmentalists, community activists, experts and made a decision.

“Kushtau is also a Shihan, but there are about 80 of them in our republic. It is already in operation and does not have a protection status. We plan to move the monuments that are located there to another place”, the Acting Head said. “We are planning to assign all sorts of statuses to Tratau and Yuraktau so that these mountains will be untouchable. We will create geoparks and seek recognition of them as UNESCO World Heritage sites”.