We demand resignation of those responsible for concealing information and introduce systemic changes in the field of environmental protection

Statement by the Yabloko party, 4.06.2020

The large-scale disaster which happened with the spill of oil products at Thermal Power Plant No 3 of the city of Norilsk on May 29 demonstrates the fragility and inefficiency of the state system of environmental protection and insecurity of people and nature.

The tragedy that happened is the largest accident in the history of the Russian Arctic. At the same time, they tried to hide it and thereby exacerbated the consequences. These developments are reminiscent of the Chernobyl’s unlearned lessons – when concealing the real scale of the catastrophe only increased the consequences of the accident.

Many words were said at the meetings of different levels, including the presidential, that the accident was predetermined by inaction and the lack of real security control. The reaction to the accident aroused serious criticism: the attempts to conceal the accident, reduce its scale; belated reaction; unpreparedness of government agencies for an operational response. Inspectors of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources Usage (Rosprirodnadzor) were not allowed to the scene of the accident, and information about the accident was not transmitted on time to the Ministry of Emergencies and other structures responsible for solving the problem.

Immediately after the accident, it became obvious that this was a disaster of a federal scale, but the emergency regime of the federal scale was declared only five days after the meeting with Vladimir Putin.  The state structures have demonstrated their incompetence and irresponsibility.

The accident occurred in the area of ​​responsibility of the richest company – Norilsk Nickel, – which operates an industrial facility of increased environmental hazard, and whose destructive effects [on environment] of a planetary scale have been discussed at the international level for years. What happened next demonstrates that the system of state control and emergency prevention functions poorly even in relation to the facilities it has to pay special attention to. This means that none of the citizens of Russia can feel safe.

Damage from the accident is estimated at dozens of billions of roubles. The effects of a fuel spill will be manifest for decades.

We consider it necessary to dismiss Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Uss, head of the Federal Service for the Use of Natural Resources Svetlana Radionova and Minister of Natural Resources Dmitry Kobylkin.

We demand the following:

1) from law enforcement agencies: to conduct a full and impartial investigation of what happened regardless of posts and financial possibilities, as well as make objective calculations of environmental damage and recover of it in full;

2)  from AO NTEC and PAO “GMK Norilsk Nickel” not to distribute dividends for 2020 in order to compensate for the damage and take necessary measures to eliminate the consequences of the accident;

3) from the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources Usage (Rosprirodnadzor), the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Oversight of Russia (Rostekhnadzor) and other competent departments conduct a thorough check of compliance with legislation at all the facilities related to the circulation of significant volumes of oil products, natural gas, hazardous chemical and radioactive substances.

The state and the society must learn a lesson from this disaster:

1) Strengthen environmental control, making it independent, directing the main forces to preventing rather than amending violations;

2) Create an independent body for the protection of nature;

3) Create an efficient institution of public inspectors;

4) Resolutely fight corruption in environmental control bodies and fill their staff with professionals in environmental protection rather than “effective managers”;

5) Сonduct checks when receiving information (received both as appeal and publications in the Internet) about threats to the population and the environment;

6) Prevent the adoption of the bill proposed by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation on postponing until March 1, 2021, payments for negative environmental impacts;

7) Abandon all measures on reduction of environmental control and expertise envisaged in the Nationwide Action Plan and providing for reсovery of employment and incomes of the population, economic growth and long-term structural changes, which was proposed by the Government of the Russian Federation on May 31, 2020 (Section “Systemic Issues of Construction of Infrastructure Facilities”).

Nikolai Rybakov,

Yabloko Chair

Olga Tzepilova,

Chair of Yabloko’s Green Russia Faction