Научная статья на тему 'INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE RUSSIAN-MONGOLIAN COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF PROTECTION AND USE OF THE TRANSBOUNDARY WATERS OF THE SELENGA RIVER BASIN'

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE RUSSIAN-MONGOLIAN COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF PROTECTION AND USE OF THE TRANSBOUNDARY WATERS OF THE SELENGA RIVER BASIN Текст научной статьи по специальности «Политологические науки»

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Журнал
Юридическая наука
ВАК
Ключевые слова
LAKE BAIKAL / SELENGA RIVER BASIN / BUILDING HYDROELECTRIC POWER STATION IN MONGOLIA / WATER LAW / ECO-ECONOMIC COOPERATION / RUSSIAN-MONGOLIAN COOPERATION

Аннотация научной статьи по политологическим наукам, автор научной работы — Sukhodolov A. P., Davaasuren A., Kolesnikova A. V., Sukhodolov Ya.A.

International practice demonstrates that the issues of economic use and management of transboundary water bodies and their catchments can cause disagreement between countries. This also relates to the catchment area of the planet’s largest fresh water Lake Baikal, which partly belongs to the Russian Federation (45 percent) and partly to Mongolia (55 percent). With regard to this, the protection and preservation of Lake Baikal, as a UNESCO World Heritage site, is of importance to both Russia and Mongolia. These issues have become particularly relevant in the context of Mongolia’s intentions to build on the Selenga river (the main tributary of Lake Baikal) and its large tributaries a cascade of hydroelectric power stations to cover the shortage of electricity. This article analyzes the current international legal mechanism of cooperation between Russia and Mongolia in the field of rational nature resources use and transboundary waters protection. The article considers examples of transboundary water cooperation of a number of countries and examples of projects implemented in the basins of transboundary rivers, it also presents ideas on a well-balanced socioeconomic development of the catchment of the Selenga river and a coordinated socioeconomic, environmental and legal policy of Russia and Mongolia in the field of nature resources use and protection of the catchment area of Lake Baikal.

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Текст научной работы на тему «INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE RUSSIAN-MONGOLIAN COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF PROTECTION AND USE OF THE TRANSBOUNDARY WATERS OF THE SELENGA RIVER BASIN»

Международно- правовые аспекты российско-монгольского сотрудничества в сфере охраны и использования трансграничных вод бассейна р. Селенги

Суходолов Александр Петрович,

доктор экономических наук, профессор, НАНО «Институт развития»

E-mail: 3952_2015@mail.ru; Даваасурен Авирмэд,

доктор экономических наук, профессор, президент, Ассоциация монголо-российского делового сотрудничества, Монголия

E-mail: davaasuren13@yahoo.com;

Алина Витальевна Колесникова,

руководитель междисциплинарного центра правовых исследований, НАНО «Институт развития» E-mail: alinal2020@mail.ru;

Суходолов Яков Александрович,

кандидат экономических наук, старший научный сотрудник, Институт экономических исследований ДВО РАН E-mail: yakov.suhodolov@gmail.com

Мировая практика свидетельствует, что вопросы хозяйственного использования и управления трансграничными водными объектами и их водосборными бассейнами могут становится причинами разногласий между странами. Это относится и к водосборной территории крупнейшего на Планете пресноводного оз. Байкал, часть которой (45%) находится Российской Федерации, а другая часть (55%) - в пределах Монголии. При этом задача сохранения Байкала как участка Всемирного природного наследия ЮНЕСКО важна и для России, и для Монголии. Особую актуальность данные вопросы приобрели в связи с намерениями Монголии построить на р. Селенге (основном притоке Байкала) и ее крупных притоках каскад ГЭС для покрытия дефицита электроэнергии. В настоящей статье авторами проведен анализ существующего международно-правового механизма сотрудничества России и Монголии в сфере рационального природопользования и охраны трансграничных вод, рассмотрены примеры трансграничного водного сотрудничества ряда стран и примеры реализованных проектов в бассейнах трансграничных рек, а также высказаны некоторые идеи относительно сбалансированного социально-экономического развития территории водосборного бассейна р. Селенги и согласованной социально-экономической, экологической и правовой политики России и Монголии в сфере природопользования и охраны водосборной территории Байкала.

Ключевые слова: оз. Байкал, бассейн р. Селенги, строительство ГЭС в Монголии, международное право, водное право, эколого-экономическое сотрудничество, российско-монгольское сотрудничество.

Издается в рамках проекта Российского фонда фундаментальных исследований 18-514-94002 МОКН_а «Национальные интересы России и Монголии в треугольнике отношений Россия - Монголия - Китай: проблемы, противоречия, сценарии».

A number of political and legal conditions make management of transboundary waters complicated. First, national sovereignty has a great influence on how effectively agreements in the field of transboundary cooperation are reached, since every state manages water bodies and their surroundings within their national institutional frameworks; second, interests and objectives of water resources use in different countries do not always coincide, and conflict resolution of water resources use and management from the legal viewpoint is a complex international policy issue.

As practice demonstrates, the lexical meaning of the concept transboundary waters, as one of the main concepts in the framework of International Water Law, varies on a case-by-case basis and is often defined by international agreements. Nevertheless, the key features are outlined in science, according to which trans-boundary waters: a) are surface waters and ground-waters; b) cross the borders of two or more countries, or are situated in the border areas; c) use of such waters affects interests of two or more countries; d) a special legal regime to use such waters is defined; e) special requirements for protection of ecosystems of transboundary waters are documented; f) there is a big potential for international conflict in terms of water resources use of transboundary waters [1].

One of the large and ecologically important transboundary basins is the catchment area of the Selenga river (i.e. the main tributary of Lake Baikal), which is situated within two countries: the Russian Federation and Mongolia. Given that each country has its own objectives concerning the use of the international watercourse, there appear acute issues related to ensuring rational nature resources use, well-balanced socioeconomic development of transboundary river basins, well-coordinated economic, social and legal policy regarding nature resources use, and, in particular, there are issues concerning protection of the unique water body of the planet, i.e. Lake Baikal.

The basis for solving the stated above international tasks is multilateral and bilateral agreements.

The first universal international agreement devoted to protection and use of water as a transbounda-ry nature resource was the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Helsinki, 17 March 1992). In Article 1 of the 1992 Convention transboundary waters are defined as "any surface or ground waters which mark, cross or are located on boundaries between two or more States" [11].

The Russian Federation signed the Convention on Transboundary Watercourses in Helsinki on 18 March

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1992 and ratified it on 2 November 1993. Mongolia is not a party of the Convention.

This Convention is a framework creating a basis for cooperation in the field of shared use of transboundary waters based on the universally recognized principles and norms of International Environmental Law. That is why the Convention on Transboundary Watercourses is closely related to other instruments of International Law; many of its provisions can be applied to resolving different legal relationship controversy in the field of water use. The Convention establishes general obligations, related to the category of "due diligence" obligations, to prevent, restrict, reduce transboundary impact [11].

According to the guidelines, with an "absolute obligation to prevent (transboundary impact)" a member state of the Convention will be responsible for violating the obligations to prevent (transboundary impact) at any moment, when there is transboundary impact in connection with an activity on the territory of this state; whereas with a "due diligence obligation to prevent (transboundary impact)" the fact of transbound-ary impact alone will not be enough for the member state to bear international responsibility, because, apart from this, it is necessary for the state on the territory of which an activity was carried out, to be unable to prove that it has taken all the measures to prevent such an impact [11].

For the parties to cooperate effectively Article 9 of the Convention provides for the right to conclude bilateral and multilateral agreements on the basis of equality and reciprocity, as well as to introduce changes to the existing agreements. The Convention also defines a "joint body" [11], that means a bilateral or multilateral commission or other appropriate institutional arrangements for cooperation between the parties.

Another institutional arrangement aimed at coordinating cooperation between riparian countries is the Transboundary Water Commission. A transbounda-ry water commissioner is an official from a water authority, environmental authority or another appropriate national authority appointed by the national government to facilitate and coordinate the implementation of a transboundary water agreement on behalf of that riparian state.

International practice demonstrates that disputes over transboundary waters can be settled by diplomatic methods and international legal instruments stated above. Here are some examples of cooperation models:

1. The Rhine river basin, which marks the border of six countries, was negatively affected for many centuries, which led to a drop in the level of groundwaters, depletion of fish stocks, the situation was also aggravated by hydraulic structures, which negatively affected the quality of water [2, P. 45]. In 1950 the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine „ (ICPR) developed the Rhine Action Programme aimed 2 at improving the river ecosystem, which included pro-£ grams for stocking salmon species, cleaning up pollu-° tion hot spots and sources of pollution, and eliminat-1 ing some of them [3, p. 219]. The ICPR's permanent

budget is estimated at 1.2 million euros per year, which provides sufficient financial support for the activities of the countries participating in the project.

On 12 April 1999 a new Convention for the protection of the Rhine was signed in Bern. It was based on integrated water management. With the help of the measures taken they managed to see positive results. For example, the improved water quality had a positive impact on the living organisms occurring there, and nowadays the range of flora and fauna in the Rhine is almost the same as it was at the beginning of the 20th century.

2. 19 countries have their territories in the Danube river basin making an anthropogenic impact on it. Two large hydroelectric power stations are built on the Romania and Serbia border. Also, there is a cascade of hydroelectric power stations in Austria and Germany. A total of 18 hydroelectric complexes operate on the Danube [2, P. 80]. In addition, the Danube is a navigable river, a source of water supply to the countries adjacent to it, and is of fishing importance. The Belgrade Convention regarding the regime of navigation on the Danube (of 18 August 1948) and the Additional Protocol to this Convention (of 26 March 1998) determine the international legal basis for cooperation between the Danube states. In accordance with the Convention the Danube commission (DC) was created. It is an intergovernmental organization which includes a representative from each member country of the Convention.

In 1994 the Convention on cooperation for the protection and sustainable use of the Danube river was signed. Under the Convention the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River was established, the Commission is presided over in turn by the parties of the Convention. Since 1999 in Vienna the permanent eight-member secretariat of the Commission for the Protection of the Danube River has been operating. The Commission has the right to create expert groups (EG) on various problems. Monitoring and supervision of the Commission activities are performed by independent auditors, who are appointed on the proposal of the parties of the Convention and who are not citizens of the country whose official currently presides over the Commission [2, P. 80].

International institutional arrangements exemplified by those ones created by the countries within the Rhine and Danube catchments, are intended to resolve emerging conflicts in negotiations. The effectiveness of such institutional arrangements is due to the fact that the member countries of the Convention delegate to them authority to take legally binding decisions. This makes it possible to save the integrity of the water bodies and develop cooperation in the field of nature resources use.

3. Lake Ohrid is located on the North Macedonia and Albania border. The cooperation for its protection was initiated in 1998 and it was the first experience of transboundary water management in the Balkan region. The lake protection project was supported by the World Bank; in 2004 the governments of Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia signed

the Agreement for the Protection and Sustainable Development of Lake Ohrid. Under the agreement two institutional arrangements were created, i.e. the Bilateral Lake Ohrid Watershed Committee and the Lake Ohrid Bilateral Secretariat. They develop action plans, joint projects, propose measures to reduce the pollution, carry out monitoring of the ecological state of the lake. The Ministers for the Environment of each country chair the Committee in turn for a one-year term [11].

4. Like Baikal the Great Lakes (Erie, Michigan, Superior, Huron, Ontario) are a reservoir of fresh water and account for 21 percent of the Earth's surface fresh water. Four of the listed lakes, except for Lake Michigan, are located in the United States and Canada. The international cooperation for environmental issues of the Great Lakes was initiated by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. According to the provisions of the Treaty the parties should not pollute the boundary waters, erect buildings which can lead to the rising of the water surface on the territory of the other country and cause damage to it [2, P. 100-107].

In 1909 under the Boundary Waters Treaty concluded between the USA and Canada the International Joint Commission (IJC) was set up. It still helps the governments of both countries to resolve transboundary conflicts mainly connected with water resources use or protection of the environment. The IJC studies the problems, gives recommendations and licenses certain forms of activities on border and transbounda-ry water bodies. It should be noted, that the Commission is independent from the states and its activities are unaccountable to them [12].

Let us view the current Russian- Mongolian model of cooperation in the field of rational nature resources use and transboundary waters protection. Among the multilateral treaties, that Russia and Mongolia participate in, the following ones need to be highlighted:

1. The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (The Ramsar Convention, 1971) [10].

The Convention is mainly aimed at conservation and sustainable use of wetlands via national activities and international cooperation.

In order to ensure the fulfillment of the obligations of Russia, resulting from the Convention, the Russian government approved the list of the wetlands located on the territory of Russia [13], the list includes the Se-lenga River delta within the area of the Kabansky state nature reserve (the Republic of Buryatia).

According to Article 5 of the Convention the parties make a commitment to consult with each other on the problems of coordinating and implementing the policy of wetlands and their flora and fauna protection, especially, when a wetland is located on the territory of more than one of the agreeing parties.

The importance and effectiveness of the Ramsar Convention is proved by the fact that by 2020 171 countries have joined it.

2. The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the 1972 UNESCO Convention). This Convention is an international treaty, ratifying which, a country commits to pro-

tect unique sites located on its territory and help other member countries of the Convention protect their heritage. According to the document, a member country of the Convention commits not to take deliberate action that can do direct or indirect harm to cultural and natural heritage [9].

According to the Guide of Implementing the UNESCO Convention, all the intentions to start or allow on the protected territory large-scale restoration work or building and construction work, which can affect the outstanding world value of an object, should be addressed to the Committee as soon as possible for it to be able to help to find appropriate decisions ensuring complete preservation of the outstanding world value of an object.

Issues on preservation and development of the unique ecosystem of Lake Baikal have become most significant for Russia and Mongolia not only because of their having common borders and the location of the transboundary Selenga river, but, also, due to granting the international status of a natural world heritage site to Lake Baikal by UNESCO in 1996. In the face of the international community this imposed on Russia special obligations and the necessity to comply with the commitment to preserve the unique natural site; this is directly connected with the diplomatic relations with Mongolia, where more than half of the catchment of Lake Baikal is situated.

Taking into consideration the principle of sovereign equality of states, maintaining environmental safety is impossible in the framework of the Russian legislation alone. That is why the cooperation between the Russian Federation and Mongolia in the field of rational nature resources use is an important diplomatic issue.

At the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) in 2014 the Russian Federation voiced concern about Mongolia's plans to build hydroelectric power stations. Noting the possibility of a serious transboundary impact, the WHC addressed to Mongolia asking not to implement any hydroelectric power stations projects without conducting an assessment of the impact of these projects on the ecosystem of Lake Baikal [5].

At the 41st session the WHC supported the previously adopted decisions concerning Mongolia's plans to build hydroelectric power stations in the Selenga river basin and emphasized the need to conduct a joint Russian-Mongolian transboundary strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for any projects in the field of hydropower and water resources use, which can have the potential impact on Lake Baikal [6].

Bilateral cooperation between Russia and Mongolia in the environmental field

1. Post-socialist inter-state relations between Russia and Mongolia are consolidated in the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Cooperation between Mongolia and the Russian Federation (20 January 1993) [17].

Some articles of the Treaty stated the need to develop cooperation in the field of environmental protection and environmental security.

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On 3 September 2019 in Ulan Bator a new Treaty on Friendly Relations and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was signed, which cancelled the previous treaty.

However, in Article 3 of the current Treaty the parties stated not only the intention to develop cooperation in the field of environmental protection, natural heritage protection, but also the need for fair and reasonable use of the border watercourses and prevention of transboundary pollution. A specific sphere of interest was also stated in the Treaty, namely, "the parties support and encourage different forms of cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels in the field of technology transfer and global partnership in the field of energy and environment" [17].

2. The Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Mongolia on cooperation in the sphere of environmental protection of 15 February 1994 provides for cooperation on issues regarding rational water use and water protection from pollution with particular attention to border water bodies. Article 6 states that to coordinate activities aimed at implementing the Treaty the parties establish a Joint Russian-Mongolian Commission on Environmental Protection [8].

3. The Treaty between the Russian Federation and Mongolia on the regime of the Russia-Mongolia border (2008). This document uses the term "boundary waters" [16], which are defined as stretches of rivers, streams, channels, arms (of a river), lakes and other water bodies on the national border. It also establishes the obligation to take the necessary measures to prevent poisoning or pollution of border waters with chemicals and wastewater, as well as in other ways.

4. In order to develop cooperation in the field of protection and rational use of transboundary waters in compliance with the principles and norms of International Law the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Mongolia on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Waters was signed (1995). In the framework of the Agreement the parties should monitor the state of trans-boundary water bodies, exchange information, coordinate the use and operation of transboundary water systems, do research and projects [7].

The analysis of the mentioned international agreements provides grounds for alleging that the issues of rational nature resources use and protection of the environment are as important as the issues of economic and political cooperation between countries. Certainly, while interacting Russia and Mongolia rely on International Water Law, which allows one to see, though, still an unclear, but developing basic international legal pattern for the joint use and protection of international watercourses. However, alongside with this, it is quite obvious that nowadays there is no clear legal route to resolve problems regarding potential threats to the „ transboundary water body which is the Selenga river. 2 It is rather difficult to hold one country responsi-S ble for environmental offences and crimes that have ° done harm to a transboundary water body and dis-1 turbed the environmental security of another country,

as the problem of international law enforcing is quite challenging, since there is no control from the global community in terms of complying with the principles of International Environmental Law supported by enforcement mechanisms.

That is why it is more difficult to resolve such conflicts concerning Russia-Mongolia relations, as the current international legal framework does not have properly established effective mechanisms of monitoring and supervising fulfillment of obligations and of making countries accountable for the harm done.

In International Law the "polluter pays" principle is widespread [14], the principle is developed by the International Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 1972. The principle is as follows: "the polluter should bear the costs of pollution prevention and control measures, the latter being measures decided by public authorities to ensure that the environment is in an acceptable state. In other words, the cost of these measures should be reflected in the cost of goods and services which cause pollution in production (provision) of goods and services and/or their consumption". In this context the polluter should not only pay for the measures to prevent pollution, but also pay for the environmental damage.

Nowadays this principle is established by many international agreements and is recognized in the world as a fundamental directly applicable tool for regulating international environmental conflicts [15].

The reparation system in International Law has specific forms (restitution, compensation and satisfaction) [4].

Restitution is the act of restoring something to a former condition that existed before an internationally wrongful act was committed.

Compensation is applied when it is not possible to repair the damage in the framework of restitution. Compensation pays not only for the financial damage that corresponds to the cost required for restoring something to a former condition that existed before an internationally wrongful act was committed, but it also pays for the loss of benefit that a country could have gained if the internationally wrongful act had not been committed.

Satisfaction is a form of repairing the intangible damage (punishment of the guilty persons, official apologies, etc.).

Analyzing the legal grounds for the cooperation between Russia and Mongolia it is necessary to highlight the following:

1) nowadays, the countries are not using all the set of internationally recognized legal tools for protecting transboundary waters. Among the existing tools there are international conventions aimed at protecting certain water bodies, as well as framework agreements requiring further detailing;

2) according to the analysis of the European international legal documents regulating transboundary water bodies it is advisable to create transboundary basin organizations as a mechanism for resolving conflicts arising in the process of water resources management shared by two or more countries.

Such organizations can perform both an informative function and the function of consulting, meanwhile not having any authority to make decisions obligatory for the countries; and in some cases the countries can be able to delegate to the organizations such an authority, recognizing the partial loss of sovereignty in favor of the responsible execution of agreements and prevention of environmental damage to transboundary water bodies;

3) further effective cooperation between Russia and Mongolia regarding the transboundary basin of the Selenga river is possible due to development of the established international legal grounds, adding to them universally recognized principles and norms of International Environmental Law, an approved list of obligations of each party, a notification mechanism of activities planned and the total risk assessment, as well as an institutional mechanism performing functions of coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the agreements.

Литература

1. Случевская Ю.А. Проблемы понятийного аппарата в международном водном праве / Ю.А. Случевская // Журнал зарубежного законодательства и сравнительного правоведения. - 2017. - № 2 (63). - С. 134-139.

2. Рысбеков Ю.Х. Трансграничное сотрудничество на международных реках: проблемы, опыт, уроки, прогнозы экспертов / Ю.Х. Рысбеков. - Ташкент: НИЦ МКВК, 2009. - 203 с.

3. Смакова Ж.Ж. Трансграничное водное сотрудничество стран Европы / Ж.Ж. Смакова // Вестник современной науки. - 2015. - № 5. -С.216-224.

4. Международное право. Общая часть / под ред. А.Я. Капустина. - Москва: Юрайт, 2018. - 282 с.

5. 38th session of the World Heritage Committee. -URL: https://un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/con-ventions/heritage.shtml (access date: 03.12.2020).

6. 41st session of the World Heritage Committee. -URL: https://whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/41COM (access date: 03.12.2020).

7. Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Mongolia on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Waters of 11 February 1995. - URL: https://voda.gov. ru/regulatory/detail.php? ID=3282 (access date: 03.12.2020).

8. Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Mongolia on cooperation in the sphere of environmental protection of 15 February 1994. - URL: http:// docs.cntd.ru/document/542657308 (access date: 03.12.2020).

9. Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. - URL: https://un-.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/conventions/herit-age.shtml (access date: 3.12.2020).

10. Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat. - URL:

https://un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/conven-tions/waterfowl.shtml (access date: 01.12.2020).

11. Guide to Implementing The Water Convention. -URL: https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/ water/publications/WAT_Guide_to_implementing_ Convention/ECE_Water_Guide_Rus_WEB.pdf (access date: 28.11.2020).

12. Handbook for Integrated Water Resources Management in the Basins of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Aquifers. - URL: http://cawater-in-fo.net/bk/iwrm/handbooks.htm (access date: 01.12.2020).

13. On measures to ensure the fulfillment of the obligations of the Russian Federation arising from the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat of February 2, 1971: Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 13, 1994 № 1050 "// Corpus of Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation. - 1994. - № 21. Art. 2395.

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15. The polluter pays principle as a special principle of International Environmental Law. - URL: http:// pravozashitnik.net/ru/2016/1/15 (access date: 03.12.2020).

16. Treaty between the Russian Federation and Mongolia on the regime of the Russia-Mongolia border of 15 January 2008. - URL: http://docs.cntd.ru/ document/902060049 (access date: 03.12.2020).

17. Treaty on Friendly Relations and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and Mongolia. - URL: http://docs.cntd.ru/ document/565307846 (access date: 03.12.2020).

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE RUSSIAN-MONGOLIAN COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF PROTECTION AND USE OF THE TRANSBOUNDARY WATERS OF THE SELENGA RIVER BASIN

Sukhodolov A.P., Davaasuren A., Kolesnikova A.V., Sukhodolov Ya.A.

Institute for Development, Association of Mongolian-Russian Business Cooperation, Institute of Economic Research

International practice demonstrates that the issues of economic use and management of transboundary water bodies and their catchments can cause disagreement between countries. This also relates to the catchment area of the planet's largest fresh water Lake Baikal, which partly belongs to the Russian Federation (45 percent) and partly to Mongolia (55 percent). With regard to this, the protection and preservation of Lake Baikal, as a UNESCO World Heritage site, is of importance to both Russia and Mongolia. These issues have become particularly relevant in the context of Mongolia's intentions to build on the Selenga river (the main tributary of Lake Baikal) and its large tributaries a cascade of hydroelectric power stations to cover the shortage of electricity. This article analyzes the current international legal mechanism of cooperation between Russia and Mongolia in the field of rational nature resources use and transboundary waters protection. The article considers examples of transboundary water cooperation of a number of countries and examples of projects implemented in the basins of transboundary rivers, it also presents ideas on a well-balanced socio-economic development of the catchment of the Selenga river and a coordinated socio-economic, environmental and legal policy of Russia and Mongolia in the field of nature resources use and protection of the catchment area of Lake Baikal.

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Keywords. Lake Baikal, Selenga river basin, building hydroelectric

power station in Mongolia, water law, eco-economic cooperation,

Russian-Mongolian cooperation.

References

1. Sluchevskaya Yu.A. Problems of Definitions in International Water Law. // Journal of Foreign Legislation and Comparative Law, 2017, no. 2 (63), pp. 134-139. (In Russian).

2. Rysbekov Yu. Kh. Transboundary cooperation on the international rivers: issues, experiences, lessons, and experts' forecasts. Tashkent, NITs MKVK Publ., 2009. 203 p.

3. Smakova Zh. Zh. Transboundary water cooperation among European countries. // Bulletin of Modern Science, 2015, no. 5, pp. 216-224. (In Russian).

4. Kapustin A. Ya. (ed.). International Law. General Part. Moscow, Yurait Publ., 2018. 282 p.

5. 38th session of the World Heritage Committee. - URL: https:// un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/conventions/heritage.shtml (access date: 03.12.2020).

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