Press Release, 9.01.2020

Konstantin Smirnov, Chairman of the Ryazan branch of Yabloko, appealed to the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request to institute criminal proceedings against Alexei Demakhin, General Director of the Ryazan Oil Refinery, a subsidiary of Rosneft.

The leader of the regional branch of Yabloko notes that the regulatory authorities and the court five years ago established the responsibility of the Ryazan Oil Refinery for air emissions from which Ryazan residents suffered. However, the company did not take any measures to stop emissions and refused to reconstruct the treatment facilities.

The Ryazan branch of Yabloko insists on the criminal prosecution of General Director of the Ryazan Oil Refinery under Article 251 Part 1 of the Criminal Code – “violation of the rules for emission of pollutants into the atmosphere or violation of operation of installations, structures and other facilities if these acts resulted in pollution or other changes in the natural properties of air”. This part of Article 251 relates to the jurisdiction of the police and involves punishment of up to a year of corrective labour or arrest of up to three months.

The regional branch of Yabloko believes that with proper activity of law enforcement agencies, the case can subsequently be re-qualified to Part 2 of the same article. Part 2 of Article 251 of the Criminal Code deals with the same acts that caused harm to human health. The punishment under Part 2 is up to two years in prison.

It should be noted that on 6 – 7 January, 2020, residents of Ryazan and the nearby territories of the Ryazan region (mainly the village of Dyadkovo) complained in social networks about the air pollution: there was a strong unpleasant smell that prevented being in the street or opening windows, many people complained that it caused headache, pain in the eyes and cough. Several citizens filed corresponding complaints on the Emergencies Ministry hotline. The residents of Ryazan and the suburbs have complained of air emissions for at least seven years, such emissions were recorded by laboratories and stationary observation posts that proved dozens of times the excess of harmful substances in the air.