Russia's Norilsk Nickel to Pay 2 Trillion Won Fine for Arctic Oil Spill

Paid full 2 trillion won fine... Used for environmental restoration costs
Norilsk Nickel CEO "Gained important lessons"... Abandoned appeal

Map showing the pollution levels of rivers around Norilsk city, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, where severe environmental contamination occurred due to an oil spill from Norilsk's combined heat and power plant in May last year.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Nornickel, the world's largest nickel mining company based in Russia, has reportedly paid a fine exceeding 2 trillion Korean won related to a massive oil spill incident at its Siberian combined heat and power plant last year. Contrary to expectations, Nornickel announced that it would not appeal the court ruling and would use the entire amount for environmental improvements.

According to foreign media including The Moscow Times on the 10th (local time), Nornickel stated that it has paid the fine of 146.2 billion rubles (approximately 2.2573 trillion Korean won) ordered by the court regarding the oil spill incident at its combined heat and power plant in Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia, which occurred in May last year. This is the highest fine ever paid in Russia related to environmental pollution cases.

In May last year, ground subsidence at the combined heat and power plant caused damage to a fuel tank, resulting in the spill of more than 21,000 tons of diesel fuel. At that time, the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources assessed the environmental damage at 148.2 billion rubles and communicated this to Nornickel.

The Russian court sentenced Nornickel to a large fine last month, and it was expected domestically and internationally that Nornickel would appeal to reduce the fine. However, contrary to expectations, Nornickel completely waived the appeal, confirming the sentence. The reason for waiving the appeal is known to be the will of Vladimir Potanin, Nornickel's CEO and largest shareholder.

Earlier in June last year, CEO Potanin informed Russian President Vladimir Putin that the company would cover the costs of the accident response entirely with company funds without government support. Following this promise, the company was fined a large amount. President Vladimir Putin also announced at the State Council meeting on the same day that Nornickel had paid the fine and reportedly instructed that the paid fine be used for environmental restoration in Norilsk and the surrounding areas where the oil spill occurred.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.