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 / Fuel / diesel spill · Russia · 2020–2023

Norilsk diesel spill

Nature's voice · report
About 21,000 tonnes of oil entered my waters.
Reported split: about 15,000 t to rivers, 6,000 t to soil (secondary).
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record.
Recorded
  • Up to 30 km of my rivers were polluted.
    Distance to which lakes and rivers were polluted.
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 2 unclear See the gaps

About 21,000 tonnes of diesel leaked from a fuel tank at a Nornickel power plant in the Russian Arctic in May 2020. A court awarded RUB 146.2 billion in damages, which the company paid in full.

≈ 28%Court award vs Nornickel 2021 net profit
RUB 146.2bn (US$1.98bn) against US$6.97bn. About 54% of 2020 net profit.
What?
On 29 May 2020 about 21,000 tonnes of diesel leaked from a fuel tank at Heat and Power Plant No. 3 in Norilsk, run by the Nornickel subsidiary NTEK, polluting rivers, lakes and soil up to 30 km away. A court awarded RUB 146.2bn in damages, which the company paid in full. Meduza (Interfax)
Where?
Heat and Power Plant No. 3 (TPP-3), Norilsk, Taymyr, Krasnoyarsk Krai, in the Russian Arctic; the Ambarnaya and Daldykan rivers and surrounding soil.
When?
Leak on 29 May 2020; federal emergency on 3 June 2020; claim filed 10 September 2020; award on 5 February 2021, paid 10 March 2021. Plant managers' verdict reported 15 August 2023.
Who?
Gained
  • Russian federal budget — About RUB 145.49bn of the award Meduza (Interfax)
  • Municipality of Norilsk — The soil-damage part of the award, about RUB 0.7bn (estimate: remainder of RUB 146.2bn) Meduza (Interfax)
  • Nornickel / NTEK — Property insurance for the tanks of about US$30m; one report says it was paid, another that it was planned 1prime.ru
  • Nornickel — Net profit of US$6,974m in 2021, the year it paid the award (company-wide) Nornickel
Lost
  • NTEK (Nornickel) — Paid RUB 146.2bn (US$1,979m) on 10 March 2021; Nornickel had booked a US$2,242m environmental provision in 2020 Nornickel
  • Rinat Akhmetchin, former mayor of Norilsk — Six months of corrective labour with 15% of wages withheld, for negligence in not acting for two days Interfax
Harmed
  • Ambarnaya and Daldykan rivers — About 15,000 t of diesel (reported split, via secondary sources)
  • Soil around the plant — About 6,000 t of diesel (reported split, via secondary sources)
  • Lakes and rivers around Norilsk — Polluted up to 30 km from the plant Yale Environment 360
Why?
Nornickel attributed the leak to the 'sudden sinking of support posts based in permafrost'; regulators cited faults in construction and maintenance, according to secondary sources. In 2023 a court found the plant director and three managers guilty of industrial-safety and environmental violations but released them under the statute of limitations. Nornickel
How?
Rosprirodnadzor claimed RUB 147.78bn against Nornickel's own damage figure of about RUB 21.4bn; the court awarded RUB 146.2bn, which NTEK paid without appeal, mainly to the federal budget. Nornickel said its insurance covered only direct damage to the tanks, not the cost of cleaning up the pollution. Meduza (Interfax)
In proportion The award equalled about 54% of Nornickel's 2020 net profit and about 28% of its 2021 net profit (estimate). Nornickel
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 29 May 2020 about 21,000 tonnes of diesel leaked from a tank at Heat and Power Plant No. 3 in Norilsk, run by the Nornickel subsidiary NTEK. A reported split, via secondary sources, was about 15,000 tonnes into the Ambarnaya and Daldykan rivers and about 6,000 tonnes into soil. Lakes and rivers were polluted up to 30 km away.

President Putin declared a federal emergency on 3 June 2020. Nornickel attributed the leak to the "sudden sinking of support posts based in permafrost"; regulators cited faults in construction and maintenance.

The environmental regulator Rosprirodnadzor claimed RUB 147.78bn; Nornickel argued for about RUB 21.4bn. On 5 February 2021 the Krasnoyarsk Arbitration Court awarded RUB 146.2bn (US$1,979m). Nornickel paid on 10 March 2021 and did not appeal. About RUB 145.49bn went to the federal budget; the soil-damage part went to Norilsk.

The former mayor of Norilsk was convicted of negligence in October 2020 for not acting for two days. In August 2023 the plant director and three managers were found guilty of safety and environmental violations but released from punishment because the statute of limitations had expired. No one was imprisoned.

Nornickel's 2020 net profit was US$3,634m after a US$2,242m environmental provision; in 2021 it was US$6,974m. The company said its property insurance would cover only direct damage to the tanks, about US$30m, and not the cost of eliminating the pollution.

  1. 2020Tank leaks (29 May); federal emergency (3 Jun); investor call on insurance (9 Jun); damages claim of RUB 147.78bn (10 Sep); former mayor convicted (19 Oct)
  2. 2021Court awards RUB 146.2bn (5 Feb); paid in full (10 Mar)
  3. 2022Cases against a dispatcher and a Rostekhnadzor inspector dismissed as time-barred (reported 19 Nov)
  4. 2023Plant director and three managers found guilty, released under the statute of limitations (reported 15 Aug)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“For the first time in the history of Russia, we loudly declare: ecology is everyone's business! And the polluter will pay!”

Svetlana Radionova, head of Rosprirodnadzor (translated) · February 2021

“sudden sinking of support posts based in permafrost”

“Only direct damage to property will be covered by insurance”

Nornickel executive on an investor call, as reported by 1prime.ru (translated) · 9 June 2020 · 1prime.ru

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • "Nornickel Fined Record $2Bln for Arctic Oil Disaster" (Moscow Times headline)
  • "Record" fine: media wording, not attributed to an official
  • The leak attributed to sinking permafrost supports

Recorded

  • Award ≈ 54% of 2020 and ≈ 28% of 2021 net profit (estimate)
  • Award went mainly to the federal budget; no source traces it to restoration
  • Insurance: property damage only, about US$30m; "insurance does not cover the costs of eliminating environmental pollution" (translated)
  • Four plant managers found guilty and released; no one imprisoned
  • 2020 sales: 221,000 t of nickel and 2.6 million oz of palladium

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
Restoration spending funded by the award—
About RUB 145.49bn went to the federal budget and the soil-damage part to Norilsk; no source traces it to restoration.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Net profit, 2020 (after US$2,242m environmental provision)$3.6bn
Window: 2020
Net profit, 2021$7bn
Window: 2021
Revenue, 2020$15.5bn
Window: 2020
Revenue, 2021$17.9bn
Window: 2021
Property insurance for the tanks≈ $30m
Window: 2020
Whether received is contradictory between sources.
Currency: USD · Window: Mixed — see each line. Figures cover different periods and are not compared as a ratio. * Estimate built from cited figures.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2020–2021Claimant wonRUB 146.2bn paid
    Rosprirodnadzor v. NTEK (environmental damages)
    Krasnoyarsk Territory Arbitration Court · Civil · Rosprirodnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources) → NTEK (Nornickel subsidiary)

    Claim of RUB 147.78bn filed 10 September 2020; the court awarded RUB 146.2bn on 5 February 2021, paid on 10 March 2021 without appeal; the reports describe no fault finding, only a dispute over how damage was calculated. The Moscow Times

  2. 2020–2023Time-barred
    Criminal case against plant managers
    Norilsk City Court · Criminal · Investigative Committee / prosecutors → Plant director Pavel Smirnov, chief engineer Stepanov, deputy chief engineer Yuri Kuznetsov, shop head Starostin

    Found guilty under Art. 217(1) (industrial-safety violations causing major damage through negligence) and Art. 246, sentenced to 1–1.5 years of corrective labour, and released from punishment because the limitation period had expired. Mediazona

  3. 2020–2020Claimant won
    Criminal case against the former mayor of Norilsk
    Norilsk City Court or Krasnoyarsk Territory court (sources differ) · Criminal · Prosecutors → Rinat Akhmetchin, former mayor

    Convicted on 19 October 2020 of negligence (Art. 293(1)) for not acting for two days; six months of corrective labour with 15% of wages withheld. Interfax

  4. Claimant won
    Criminal case against an emergency dispatcher
    Russian court · Criminal · Prosecutors → Vyacheslav Ivashchenko, emergency dispatcher

    Sentenced to six months of corrective labour with a 10% deduction; date not given in the sources. The Barents Observer

  5. 2022Time-barred
    Criminal cases against a dispatcher and a Rostekhnadzor inspector
    Russian court · Criminal · Prosecutors → Denis Kulaev (dispatcher); Elena Novozhilova (Rostekhnadzor inspector)

    Dismissed when the statute of limitations expired, as reported on 19 November 2022. The Barents Observer

Insurers

  1. 2020Partly paid$30m expected property payout (about)
    Property insurer of the fuel tanks (not verified) → Nornickel / NTEK
    Stated reason: Insurance does not cover the costs of eliminating environmental pollution (company statement, translated)

    On a June 2020 investor call the company said only direct property damage was covered; one report calls the payout planned, another says it was paid, and the 2020 annual report mentions no recovery. 1prime.ru

  2. 2021UninsuredRUB 146.2bn damages paid by the company
    None → NTEK
    Stated reason: Environmental clean-up costs outside the property policy

    The RUB 146.2bn award was paid by Nornickel itself; no insurer role was found. Meduza (Interfax)

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.

Award paid
RUB 146.2bn
About US$1.98bn; paid in full, not appealed
Spread
up to 30 km
Lakes and rivers polluted
Prison sentences
0
Managers released under the statute of limitations

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Court ruling exists

Money

  • None on record Restoration spending funded by the award — About RUB 145.49bn went to the federal budget and the soil-damage part to Norilsk; no source traces it to restoration.

Record

  • Unclear Whether the ~US$30m property insurance was received: 1prime.ru reported it as planned, pnp.ru/TASS as paid. The insurer is not verified.
  • Unclear Whether the diesel reached Lake Pyasino: the governor said it did; Rosprirodnadzor's head said it did not.
  • None on record The 15,000 t river / 6,000 t soil split and the regulator's construction-fault findings come from secondary sources.
  • None on record Exact verdict date and any appeal outcome for the four plant managers.
  • None on record How the award money was spent; tax treatment of the payment.

Did the harm stop?

The leak was a single event on 29 May 2020; a federal emergency was declared five days later.

Who paid?

The rivers and soil around Norilsk. NTEK paid the award from its own funds, mainly to the federal budget; insurance covered property damage only.

Sources

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

Company or project

Press and investigations

  4. Russian oil spill reaches pristine Arctic lake
    Yale Environment 360 · 2020-06
  7. Norilsk plant managers verdict
    Mediazona · 2023-08-15
  9. Former Norilsk mayor convicted
    Interfax · 2020-10-19

Connected cases

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

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
Negligence and gross negligence
Negligence is a failure to take reasonable care. Gross negligence is a serious, reckless failure; under US oil-spill law a finding of gross negligence raises the maximum penalty.
Statute of limitations, time-barred
The legal time limit for bringing or completing a case. A time-barred case can no longer lead to a penalty, even if guilt was found.

Science and environment

Permafrost
Ground that stays frozen for at least two years in a row. When it thaws, structures built on it can sink.
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