ST. PETERSBURG, May 22 (RIA Novosti) - Boats will be banned from taking to the Neva River and the Gulf of Finland during a G8 summit this summer, an emergencies official said Monday.
Earlier, officials were quoted as saying that life in Russia's second city, which is built on hundreds of islands and is the country's most important port on the Baltic, would continue without disruption during the July 15-17 summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations.
"Boat movement will be completely stopped during the G8 summit," Konstantin Pashinsky, the head of the State Inspection for Small Vessels, said, adding that some 500 large and small vessels were expected to be moored near St. Petersburg during the summit.
He said over 30,000 small vessels and 24 bases that house them were registered in the city.
