Vegetation Monitoring

Objectives of the programme:

• control over the condition of vegetation in the areas adjacent to the Company's facilities;
• assessment and prediction of natural and human-induced changes in vegetation communities;
• control over the condition of populations of rare and protected species of plants, lichens, and mushrooms;
• control over the condition of vegetation in specially protected natural territories located near the Company's production facilities;
• control over invasive species;
• control over the restoration of vegetation at the right of way and development of recommendations for additional work on some of its sites; and
• assessment of plant tissues contamination.

The first three-year cycle of vegetation studies in the area of the potential impact of the pipeline route during the operation phase was completed in 2011. Outside the territoty of the right of way, vegetation is preserved without changes or changed to an insignificant degree at its boundary.
In 2012, the monitoring of flora and vegetation was conducted in the area of the potential impact of Prigorodnoye Asset and the Onshore Processing Facility (OPF). The species composition of the flora, the structure of plant communities, and the state of populations of protected plants and lichens species remained unchanged or changed to an insignificant degree.