Cooperation of three countries on the regulation of Lake Inari celebrates its 60th anniversary

2019 marks the 60th anniversary of cooperation between Russia, Norway and Finland on the regulation of Lake Inari. On 20 August, the Finnish municipality of Inari hosted a meeting of Representatives of the three countries, timed to that date.

Lake Inari is located on the territory of Finland and considered the main water-storage basin for Russian and Norwegian HPPs constructed on the Paz River. In 1959, the parties signed the agreement On Lake Inari Water Management by Means of Kaitakoski HPP.

"The water regime of the Paz River is in the hands of power engineers and controlled to ensure the operation of Russian and Norwegian hydroelectric power plants. At the same time, the interests of ecology and biodiversity conservation of Lake Inari form the basis of the cooperation from the very beginning. This is a unique example of long-term international cooperation,” Gennady Semenov, Russian Representative and Deputy General Director for Marketing and Sales of TGC-1, said.

Throughout the years, the parties have constantly improved the Agreement.

"Information sharing and decision-making processes became faster and more coherent; the Regulation Rules were significantly improved following the interests of ecology. Years of observation of this water basin have made it possible to create an ecological target zone, and our work there brings the Inari water levels closer to the natural one, thus contributing to the fish stock conservation," Nikolay Vorobyev, Director of the Paz HPPs Cascade of TGC-1, told. “We have an ongoing relationship with our partners and always manage to come to a mutual understanding."

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The Paz River has seven hydroelectric power plants, five of them are combined into the Paz HPPs Cascade of TGC-1, and the rest two are part of Norwegian energy industry.

Lake Inari is the third largest lake in Finland, with a length of over 80 km and a width of 50 km. 10 original species of fish and 4 imported species inhabit the lake. Finland began to regulate Lake Inari in 1942 to provide energy to the nickel mine in Petsamo.

The main goal is to improve the state of the reservoir, fish nutrition and its serviceability without damaging the ecosystem.