Baikal (lake)

History

2024: Vydrino resort began to be built on Lake Baikal for 3 billion rubles

In September 2024, on the shores of Lake Baikal in the Kabansky district of the Republic of Buryatia, the construction of the Vydrino tourist and recreational cluster began. The project is being implemented by the Baikal Resorts company with the support of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation (KRDV). The total investment in the project will amount to ₽3 billion. The construction of the resort is aimed at creating a modern tourist infrastructure, which will significantly increase the tourist attractiveness of the region and create 400 new jobs. more details here.

2022: Attendance growth by 40% to 360,000 

In 2022, more than 360 thousand people visited reserves, national parks and reserves near Lake Baikal, which is 40% more than in 2021. Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko cited such data on March 3, 2023 following a meeting of the government commission on the protection of Lake Baikal in the Irkutsk region.

Around Baikal there are 14 federal specially protected natural areas (protected areas). Three of them are the most visited tourists, the load on them increased by 40%. Our task is to check how ready these territories are for a further increase in tourist flow and load, she said.

The protected areas, which account for the maximum tourist flows, include the Pribaikalsky, Zabaykalsky and Tunkinsky national parks.

By 2023, Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and the largest reservoir of fresh water (up to 20% of the world's reserves). It is a popular tourist destination in Russia. Tourism on Lake Baikal is year-round, annually the tourist flow to the shores of the lake is growing. More than 1 million people visit Baikal in the Republic of Buryatia, about 2 million in the Irkutsk region. According to the forecasts of experts, which in early March 2023 leads TASS, in the near future the total tourist flow in two regions will reach 5 million people per year.

Abramchenko in early March 2023 announced the allocation by the Government of the Russian Federation of about 7 billion rubles for the liquidation of two large facilities of the closed Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM).

This is the most important direction in terms of protecting Lake Baikal. Therefore, even in difficult economic conditions, the government has provided funding in the amount of almost 7 billion rubles for the elimination of the harm to the BPPMs caused by these two sites this year, "she said.[1]

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