the japanese are also active in bratsk. but i should point out that we do not only have relations with japan and china. we also cooperate with the united states. narrator: apart from developing new trade relations, the factories of bratsk also face another challenge: how to cut back environmental pollution. air pollution here is among the very worst in an already bad region. the regional problem is so bad, it astonished u.s. astronaut mike foale as he looked down from sce. even with hydroelectric power, siberians primarily burn fossil fuels. the cities in russia are coal-burning cities, and so the soot from the coal burning has spread out over the snow surrounding the city and you see this big black smudge. it's almost like someone had rubbed their finger across a photograph, but looking at i out the window. narrator: cosmonaut vladimir titov flew with foale on a space shuttle mission. he talks about a town in siberia he knows well. ( speaking russian ) translator: if you look from the air, it's one of the dirtiest towns ev