Taimyr and Kola indigenous peoples and Nornickel: letter, development programme and compensation payments, 2020–2025
- Company or project Nornickel (Human Rights Report 2024): The five-year programme was completed in 2024 with more than RUB 2bn directed to it; zero cases of violation of indigenous peoples' rights were recorded in 2024. Nornickel
- Communities and civil society Community members and a coalition of NGOs (Cultural Survival, 2022): Receiving support required agreeing that the spill had not affected fisheries; Ust-Avam refused and had not received the compensation it requested. Cultural Survival (coalition)
After the May 2020 Norilsk diesel spill, indigenous organisations called on Tesla to refuse Nornickel products, and Nornickel announced a development programme, compensation payments and a coordination council. The company reports the programme as completed in 2024; NGOs report that support was made conditional and that Ust-Avam has not received the compensation it requested.
Nornickel's Human Rights Report 2024; no year-by-year breakdown and no independent audit is on record.
Status As of October 2026: the company reports the 2020–2024 programme completed and a new agreement with FADN signed on 9 December 2025; NGOs report that Ust-Avam has not received the compensation it requested.
- 699 people (clan communities and individuals fishing on Lake Pyasino and the Pyasina River) — Payments totalling RUB 174m announced by NTEK Radio Svoboda
- 58 communities in the Coordination Council — RUB 400m for community development in 2021–2024, RUB 100m a year (company-reported) Nornickel
- Volochanka and Ust-Avam — 23% of the housing stock renewed and feldsher-midwife stations up 27% (company-reported) Nornickel
- Ust-Avam — Reported by NGOs as not having received the compensation it requested after refusing to accept that the spill had not affected its fisheries Cultural Survival (coalition)
- Lake Pyasino and the Pyasina River fisheries — Residents could not fish in Lake Pyasino in 2021 because of the spill (Cultural Survival) Cultural Survival (coalition)
- Ust-Avam residents — Reindeer meat confiscated in police searches of homes on 6 February 2022, as reported by a coalition of NGOs Cultural Survival (coalition)
What happened
On 7 August 2020 the Aborigen Forum, in an open letter to Tesla signed by its general secretary, asked Tesla to refuse Nornickel products until four conditions were met: an independent assessment of environmental damage in Taimyr and Murmansk Oblast; compensation to indigenous communities for damage to their traditional way of life; recultivation of contaminated land; and policies requiring free and informed consent. The forum called land taken for industry "a lunar landscape".
On 25 September 2020 Nornickel announced a comprehensive plan to 2025 worth RUB 2bn, with more than 40 measures based on a summer 2020 ethnological expedition, and signed an agreement with three associations: the Association of Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, the Krasnoyarsk Krai regional association and the Taimyr association. On 22 December 2020 NTEK announced payments totalling RUB 174m to 699 people, clan communities and individuals fishing on Lake Pyasino and the Pyasina River; the recipient list was agreed with community representatives and the national indigenous association, and the damage was calculated by the Arctic Development Project Office. The announcement was later removed from Nornickel's website.
In June 2021 two indigenous representatives, one Dolgan and one Sami from Kola, met Credit Suisse and UBS representatives in Bern and said they had been refused meetings at Nornickel's Zug subsidiary Metal Trade Overseas AG; the Sami delegate said the company does not respect the rights of indigenous people. Nornickel confirmed in a 21 March [2021] letter to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre "direct compensation of 174 million roubles (CHF 2.2 million) to 699 people".
A coalition article published by Cultural Survival on 1 June 2022 reported that on 6 February 2022 police searched homes in Ust-Avam (population about 450) and confiscated reindeer meat; that community members said receiving support required agreeing that the spill had not affected their fisheries, and that Ust-Avam refused and had not received the compensation it requested; that leaders said the free, prior and informed consent process in Tukhard violated international standards; and that Nornickel's planned audit by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) was put on hold after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Communities were "considering legal action" to recover the meat.
Nornickel's Human Rights Report 2024 states that in 2024 the company completed the five-year programme and directed more than RUB 2bn to it, and that a Coordination Council with 58 communities directed RUB 400m to community development in 2021–2024 (RUB 100m a year). It reports 23% of the housing stock renewed in Volochanka and Ust-Avam, feldsher-midwife stations up 27%, and zero recorded violations of indigenous peoples' rights in 2024. On 9 December 2025 the company announced a new agreement with the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs (FADN) and the association of indigenous peoples.
- 2020Aborigen Forum letter to Tesla (7 Aug); Nornickel plan and agreement with three associations (25 Sep); payments of RUB 174m to 699 people announced (22 Dec)
- 2021Indigenous representatives meet Credit Suisse and UBS in Bern (June); Coordination Council formed
- 2022Police search homes in Ust-Avam and confiscate reindeer meat (6 Feb, per a coalition of NGOs)
- 2024Company reports the five-year Taimyr programme completed
- 2025New agreement with FADN and the indigenous peoples' association (9 Dec)
What was said
“a lunar landscape”
“the company does not respect the rights of indigenous people”
“considering legal action”
“without showing documents or identification”
“0 cases of violation of indigenous peoples' rights were recorded in 2024”
“The agreement continues Nornickel's course of developing constructive and mutually beneficial relations”
“Modern approaches combine state guarantees and voluntary corporate commitments of business”
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
The five-year programme was completed in 2024 with more than RUB 2bn directed to it; zero cases of violation of indigenous peoples' rights were recorded in 2024.
NornickelReceiving support required agreeing that the spill had not affected fisheries; Ust-Avam refused and had not received the compensation it requested.
Cultural Survival (coalition)Announced a comprehensive plan worth RUB 2bn running to 2025.
InterfaxReports the five-year programme as 2020–2024, completed in 2024, with more than RUB 2bn.
NornickelHow it looked
Shown
- The five-year programme completed in 2024 with more than RUB 2bn directed to it; zero recorded violations of indigenous peoples' rights in 2024Nornickel (Human Rights Report 2024) · Nornickel
- The new agreement with FADN and the association of indigenous peoples described as directed at the development of local communitiesNornickel (press release, 9 December 2025) · Vedomosti
Recorded
- NTEK announced payments totalling RUB 174m to 699 people; the announcement was later removed from Nornickel's website
- Nornickel confirmed "direct compensation of 174 million roubles (CHF 2.2 million) to 699 people" in a 21 March [2021] letter to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
- Per Profundo data cited by the Society for Threatened Peoples, as of April 2021 UBS held US$45 million in Nornickel shares and bonds, and Credit Suisse held US$27 million in equity and had issued US$268 million in loans
- Coordination Council: RUB 400m for community development in 2021–2024, RUB 100m a year; 58 communities
- IRMA audit of Nornickel put on hold after Russia's invasion of Ukraine (Cultural Survival coalition article)
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- nornickel (2025): Reported that it completed the five-year programme in 2024 with more than RUB 2bn directed to it, and zero recorded violations of indigenous peoples' rights in 2024. · Nornickel
- nornickel (2021-03-21): Confirmed direct compensation of RUB 174 million (CHF 2.2 million) to 699 people in a 21 March [2021] letter to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. · swissinfo.ch
- nornickel (2025-12-09): Announced a new agreement with FADN and the association of indigenous peoples; Vice President Andrei Grachev said it continues the company's course of developing constructive and mutually beneficial relations. · Vedomosti
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Disputed Has the support programme met the communities' needs, and is support conditional?
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Accounts
- Disputed When did the RUB 2bn programme end?
Record
- None on record None on record: an independent assessment of environmental damage to traditional land use in Taimyr and Murmansk Oblast, the first demand of the Aborigen Forum letter.
- Not disclosed Not disclosed: a year-by-year breakdown of the more than RUB 2bn programme spend in the company's Human Rights Report 2024.
- None on record None on record: an independent audit of the compensation payments.
- None on record None on record: a lawsuit by indigenous communities against Nornickel; Cultural Survival (2022) reported that communities were considering legal action to recover the confiscated meat.
- None on record None on record: a complaint from residents about the RUB 174m payments in the swissinfo article, or a response from the company press service to Sibir.Realii in the 22 December 2020 report.
- Disputed Disputed: the programme period. Interfax reported the RUB 2bn plan on 25 September 2020 as running to 2025; the company later reports it as 2020–2024 and completed.
Did the harm stop?
The spill was a single event on 29 May 2020; the company reports the five-year programme completed in 2024.
Who paid?
Nornickel and its subsidiary NTEK funded the programme and the RUB 174m payments; the company reports more than RUB 2bn for 2020–2024.
Sources
Company or project
Press and investigations
- Nornickel to direct RUB 2bn to support indigenous peoples of the NorthInterfax · 2020-09-25
- Russian activists demand action on Nornickel spillswissinfo.ch · 2021-06-17
Communities and civil society
- Isolated and Impacted by Nickel Mining: Indigenous Communities in Russia Search for Avenues of JusticeCultural Survival (coalition) · 2022-06-01
Connected cases
- Norilsk diesel spill Russia · 2020–2023 Related matter
- Nornickel (MMC Norilsk Nickel) (Company) — here: Funder of the programme and agreement partner; there: Parent company
- NTEK (Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company) (Company) — here: Announced the RUB 174m payments to 699 people; there: Plant operator; paid the award
- Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill: closure and waste clean-up Russia · 1966–2026
- Nornickel (MMC Norilsk Nickel) (Company) — here: Funder of the programme and agreement partner; there: Subsidiary NTEK paid the 2020 Norilsk spill payment that funds the clean-up
- Barbados debt-for-nature swap Barbados · 2022
- Credit Suisse (now UBS) (Bank) — here: Met indigenous representatives in Bern, June 2021; shareholder and lender per NGO data; there: Global lead arranger
- Belize blue bond Belize · 2021–2041
- Credit Suisse (now UBS) (Bank) — here: Met indigenous representatives in Bern, June 2021; shareholder and lender per NGO data; there: Bond arranger
- Cobalt child labour lawsuits against tech firms (DR Congo) DR Congo · 2024
- Tesla (Company) — here: Addressee of the 7 August 2020 letter; there: Technology company named in the headline of the US ruling report
- Daldykan River turns red near Norilsk, September 2016 Russia · 2016
- Nornickel (MMC Norilsk Nickel) (Company) — here: Funder of the programme and agreement partner; there: Owner of the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant; issued the 12 September 2016 statement
- Galápagos debt-for-nature swap Ecuador · 2023–2041
- Credit Suisse (now UBS) (Bank) — here: Met indigenous representatives in Bern, June 2021; shareholder and lender per NGO data; there: Bond arranger
- Galápagos debt-for-nature swap used US$656 million of US political risk insurance Ecuador · 2023
- Credit Suisse (now UBS) (Bank) — here: Met indigenous representatives in Bern, June 2021; shareholder and lender per NGO data; there: Issued the new bond, per the sources
- Net Zero Banking Alliance exits and closure International · 2023–2026
- UBS (Bank) — here: Met indigenous representatives in Bern, June 2021; shareholder and bondholder per NGO data; there: Left NZBA August 2025
- Nornickel Sulphur Programme: SO2 targets, spending and measured emissions at Norilsk and Kola Russia · 2015–2026
- Nornickel (MMC Norilsk Nickel) (Company) — here: Funder of the programme and agreement partner; there: Operator of the Norilsk and Kola smelters; publisher of the targets and emissions figures
- Rooibos benefit-sharing agreement (South Africa) South Africa · 2020
- Cultural Survival (NGO) — here: Coalition article of 1 June 2022 on Ust-Avam and Tukhard; there: NGO; reported on the arrangement in 2020
- Syrah declares force majeure at Mozambique graphite mine after unrest Mozambique · 2024
- Tesla (Company) — here: Addressee of the 7 August 2020 letter; there: supply agreement counterparty
- Talnakh Concentrator tailings facility: wastewater pumped onto the tundra, 2017–2020 Russia · 2017–2024
- Nornickel (MMC Norilsk Nickel) (Company) — here: Funder of the programme and agreement partner; there: Owner and operator of the Talnakh Concentrator; defendant in the RUB 12.5m claim