Russian Mir submersibles will start exploring Lake Geneva in 2011, a Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday.
"The exploration of Lake Geneva will be held next summer," Artur Chilingarov said.
Chilingarov is also the president of the Fund for Protection of Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake.
In 2008 and 2009 Mir-1 and Mir-2 deep-sea submersibles explored East Siberia's Baikal and studied its flora and fauna, and hydrothermal and volcanic activity, as well as seeking more precise data on tectonic processes under the lake.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a four-hour dive to the bottom of Lake Baikal in the Mir-1 mini-submarine in August last year.
The owners of the Mir vessels were recently asked by British Petroleum (BP)'s top management to assist in tackling the oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
Russia's Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, which owns the mini-submarines, rejected the request however, saying the mini-subs had a busy schedule.
MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti)
