Norilsk Russia's most polluted city in 2010 - statistics

The city of Norilsk in the Siberian Arctic was Russia's most polluted city in 2010, with annual industrial emissions of almost 2 million tons, the government statistics agency said on Wednesday.

Topping the list of 56 industrial Russian cities with poor environment, Norilsk still showed slightly better results than in the previous year.

Norilsk is the headquarters of the Norilsk Nickel company, the world's top producer of nickel and palladium and one of the leading producers of platinum and copper.

The Russian Statistics Agency said the country's industrial cities produced a total of 19.1 million tons of polluting substances last year, 100,000 tons more than a year before.