"As soon as we start to do something, one line of attack against us is always environmental problems... Ecological expertise shouldn't obstruct the development of the country or the economy," Putin said in comments cited by the Interfax news agency.

Putin gave as an example environmental objections that had caused the re-routing of an oil pipeline that is being built from western Siberia to Russia's Pacific coast in order to supply Asian markets.

Having to build the pipeline around the northern shore of Russia's Lake Baikal had cost "hundreds of millions of dollars more," Putin said.

Another example was Russia's construction of new port facilities near Finland, Putin said.

"We began building a port near Finland and our partners -- I know this for a fact -- invested money into the activity of environmental organisations with the only aim of hindering the development of this project, because it creates competition for them," Putin said.

The comments come after a series of oil spills in Russia that have received widespread publicity and after the European Court of Human Rights last month made its first ever ruling against the Russian state in an environmental case. The state had been negligent in failing to protect workers at a steel plant north of Moscow, the court found.

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