Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Oil, gas and coal operations · Kazakhstan · 2024–2025

Mangistaumunaigas fines for wastewater injection, drilling waste and furnace emissions (Mangystau, 2024)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 2 not disclosed · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

On 4 December 2024 the Karakiya District Court fined the KazMunayGas–CNPC joint venture Mangistaumunaigas KZT 31 billion after prosecutors said it had discharged wastewater into subsoil layers and accumulated drilling waste without established limits; a further KZT 1.2 billion fine for furnace emissions followed on 11 December. The company said it would challenge both.

KZT 32.2bnAdministrative fines on Mangistaumunaigas, December 2024
KZT 31bn (Karakiya District Court, 4 December 2024) plus KZT 1.2bn (11 December 2024); total as stated by the prosecutor.

Status As of January 2025: the company said it would seek Supreme Court review of the KZT 31 billion fine and had appealed the KZT 1.2 billion fine; later outcomes are not on record.

What?
Courts fined Mangistaumunaigas KZT 31 billion for discharging wastewater into subsoil layers and accumulating drilling waste without established limits, and KZT 1.2 billion for excess furnace emissions, on the initiative of prosecutors. BES.media
Where?
MMG fields, Karakiya district, Mangystau region, Kazakhstan. BES.media
When?
Rulings of 4 and 11 December 2024; prosecutor's announcement 13 January 2025; company statement 14 January 2025. BES.media
Who?
Gained
  • Kazakh state — Fines totalling about KZT 32.2 billion, subject to the company's challenges Orda.kz
Lost
  • Mangistaumunaigas (KazMunayGas 50%, CNPC 50%) — Fined KZT 31 billion and KZT 1.2 billion in December 2024 Orda.kz
Harmed
  • Subsoil layers and air in the Karakiya district — Wastewater discharged into subsoil layers, drilling waste accumulated without limits and furnace emissions in excess of limits, according to the prosecutor's office; volumes not stated BES.media
Why?
The prosecutor's office said MMG exceeded permitted environmental impact limits by discharging wastewater into subsoil layers, accumulating drilling waste without established limits and emitting excess pollutants from furnaces. BES.media
How?
Administrative fines imposed by courts on the prosecutors' initiative; the company is seeking review by the Supreme Court and has appealed the second fine. BES.media
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Mangystau Region Prosecutor's Office said Mangistaumunaigas JSC (MMG), a 50/50 joint venture of KazMunayGas and CNPC, discharged wastewater into subsoil layers and accumulated drilling waste without established limits, and separately emitted excess pollutants from oil-heating furnaces. On 4 December 2024 the Karakiya District Court fined the company KZT 31 billion under article 328 of the Code of Administrative Offences (violation of permissible anthropogenic impact norms). On 11 December 2024 a first-instance court fined it KZT 1.2 billion for the furnace emissions. The prosecutor announced the fines on 13 January 2025, with a total of about KZT 32.2 billion.

On 14 January 2025 the company said it would seek review and annulment of the 4 December ruling by the Supreme Court, and an appeal against the KZT 1.2 billion fine was filed with the Mangystau Regional Court. The company's statement focused on procedure. The court that imposed the KZT 1.2 billion fine, the period of the violations and the volumes of wastewater injected or waste accumulated are not stated.

  1. 2024Karakiya District Court fines MMG KZT 31bn (4 Dec); first-instance court fines it KZT 1.2bn for furnace emissions (11 Dec)
  2. 2025Prosecutor announces fines totalling about KZT 32.2bn (13 Jan); company says it will seek Supreme Court review and has appealed the KZT 1.2bn fine (14 Jan)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Whether the fines stand
Courts
Karakiya District Court and a first-instance court

Fined MMG KZT 31 billion (4 December 2024) and KZT 1.2 billion (11 December 2024).

BES.media
Company or project
Mangistaumunaigas

Will seek review and annulment of the 4 December ruling by the Supreme Court; appealed the 11 December ruling.

BES.media

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Headline: “Mangistaumunaigas fined 32 bn tenge”.
    BES.media, 13 January 2025 · BES.media
  • Headline: “Mangistaumunaigas will seek annulment of billion-tenge fines in the courts”.
    BES.media, 14 January 2025 · BES.media

Recorded

  • KZT 31 billion fine under article 328 of the Code of Administrative Offences, Karakiya District Court, 4 December 2024.
    BES.media
  • KZT 1.2 billion fine for furnace emissions, first-instance court, 11 December 2024.
    BES.media
  • Total of about KZT 32.2 billion, as stated by the prosecutor; ownership 50/50 KazMunayGas and CNPC.
    Orda.kz

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
Remediation or restoration funded by the fines—
None on record.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Fine, Karakiya District Court (4 December 2024)31bn
Fine for furnace emissions (11 December 2024)1.2bn
Currency: KZT · Window: December 2024. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Mangistaumunaigas (14 January 2025): Will seek review and annulment of the 4 December ruling by the Supreme Court and has appealed the 11 December ruling; the statement focused on procedure. · BES.media

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2024–2024Claimant wonKZT 31bn fine, article 328 Code of Administrative Offences
    Mangystau Prosecutor's Office v. Mangistaumunaigas (wastewater injection and drilling waste)
    Karakiya District Court · Administrative · Mangystau Region Prosecutor's Office → Mangistaumunaigas JSC

    Ruling of 4 December 2024; the company said it was preparing a petition to the Supreme Court for review. BES.media

  2. 2024–2024OngoingKZT 1.2bn fine, 11 December 2024; under appeal
    Mangystau Prosecutor's Office v. Mangistaumunaigas (furnace emissions)
    First-instance court (not named); appeal to Mangystau Regional Court · Administrative · Mangystau Region Prosecutor's Office → Mangistaumunaigas JSC

    Fine for excess pollutant emissions from oil-heating furnaces; an appeal to the Mangystau Regional Court was filed. BES.media

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Fine for exceeding permissible impact norms
KZT 31bn
Karakiya District Court, 4 December 2024; wastewater injected into subsoil and drilling waste accumulated without limits
Fine for furnace emissions
KZT 1.2bn
11 December 2024

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Court ruling existsCase pending / contested

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Money

  • None on record Remediation or restoration funded by the fines — None on record.

Accounts

Record

  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: volumes of wastewater injected or drilling waste accumulated.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the court that imposed the KZT 1.2 billion fine, and the period of the violations.
  • None on record None on record: insurance cover or payments.

Did the harm stop?

None on record.

Who paid?

Payment status of the KZT 31 billion and KZT 1.2 billion fines is not on record; the company said in January 2025 that it would challenge them.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Press and investigations

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Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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