Norilsk Nickel hit 148 billion

Rosprirodnadzor wants to enforce a fine of 148 billion rubles for a fuel spill.
11.09.2020
Kommersant
Origin source
Rosprirodnadzor is tired of waiting for Norilsk Nickel to voluntarily pay 148 billion rubles. a fine for a fuel spill in Taimyr, and decided to recover this amount through the courts. The claim was filed with the Arbitration Court of the Krasnoyarsk Region. The company disagrees with the amount of the fine, pointing out that Rosprirodnadzor used the highest possible ratios in calculating it. Norilsk Nickel suggested organizing a joint discussion of the amount of the fine, but the regulator, apparently, is not ready for a compromise.

Rosprirodnadzor filed a lawsuit against Norilsk Nickel in order to recover 148 billion rubles from the company. damage to the environment during a diesel spill at CHPP-3 near Norilsk. “The Yenisei Interregional Directorate of the Federal Service for Supervision of Environmental Management has filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory for compensation for harm caused to the environment as a result of violation of the mandatory requirements of environmental legislation by Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company JSC. The claims amount to 147.784 billion rubles, ”TASS quotes the words of a representative of Rosprirodnadzor. Kommersant sent a request to the MMC.

The accident took place on May 29 at TPP-3, which belongs to a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel. As a result of the subsidence of the foundation supports of the fuel tank, it leaked out, and more than 21 thousand tons of winter diesel fuel got into the environment, including two rivers.

According to the agency, the damage caused to water bodies is 147 billion rubles, and to soils - 738 million rubles.

The service offered the company to compensate the damage on a voluntary basis. But Norilsk Nickel did not agree with the methodology used for calculating the damage. The company indicated that a maximum coefficient of 5 was used in the calculations, taking into account the duration of the negative impact of pollutants on the water body if measures were not taken to eliminate it. In the current law enforcement practice, such a coefficient is of a penalty nature and is applied when the perpetrator of the accident did nothing to eliminate it or did not take any measures for a long time.

Norilsk Nickel emphasized that the company started to liquidate the accident immediately, so the use of the coefficient is unreasonable. At the same time, Norilsk Nickel confirmed their obligation to compensate for the damage caused by it in full and restore the ecosystem in the area of ​​the accident. The head of the Ministry of Natural Resources Dmitry Kobylkin said in August that he hopes to agree on the payment of a fine in pre-trial order.

The accident has already affected the company, both financially and corporately.

In the first half of the year, Norilsk Nickel reported a reduction in EBITDA by 51%, to $ 1.8 billion, according to IFRS statements. The company's net profit fell 98% to $ 45 million. The reason for the decrease was the recognition of expenses on environmental reserves of $ 2.1 billion in compensation for a diesel spill.

In addition, the accident exacerbated tensions between the main shareholders of the company. Recall that Vladimir Potanin's Interros owns about 34% of the shares of GMK, Rusal, founded by Oleg Deripaska, - 27.8%, Roman Abramovich and Alexander Abramov's Crispian - 4.2%. In August, Vladimir Potanin said that Rusal was using the accident to put pressure on Norilsk Nickel in order to maximize dividends. At the same time, he called the existing shareholder agreement a rudiment. Rusal said that the shareholder agreement is not a burden for Norilsk Nickel, but defines the key rules of the game. The main risk, according to Rusal, is “ineffective decisions of individual managers or the absence of decisions as such”.

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