Translated material
Gas attack
The prosecutor's office supported the claims against Rospan with a case
The Prosecutor General's Office yesterday continued its attack on the gas-producing subsidiary of TNK-BP, Rospan International. On November 7, as is known, its representatives sent to the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use (Rosnedra) a proposal to revoke the company's license to develop the East Urengoy gas field (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) due to violation of licensing requirements. Yesterday it was announced that the environmental prosecutor's office of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug had already opened a criminal case into the fact of Rospan's work at this field. The company's actions are qualified under Art. 171-1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (carrying out business activities in violation of licensing requirements and associated with the extraction of income on a large scale).At first it was reported that a case had been opened against the leaders of Rospan, although no specific names were named. According to the company itself, this most likely refers to Philippe Tyck, who has been its managing director since 2003. However, according to a Vremya Novostei source, the case was not brought against a specific person, but only based on the fact of violations discovered. “No one has been charged yet,” the source emphasized. “The investigation is only trying to figure it out and establish whose fault the violations related to the licensing of the enterprise were committed.”
As it turned out, the case was initiated on November 8 based on an inspection at the request of State Duma deputy from United Russia Anton Bakov, as well as multiple inspections carried out this year by Rostechnadzor and Rosprirodnadzor. The reason for the proposal to revoke Rospan’s license was the same deputy request from Mr. Bakov. Moreover, he recently recalled it because, according to the deputy, Rospan had submitted all the necessary documents to the state licensing authorities. However, as the prosecutor’s office explained, in this situation the withdrawal of the deputy’s request no longer plays any role.
During the inspection, as the prosecutor's office said, it was established that Rospan had been developing hydrocarbon deposits in the East Urengoy and Novo-Urengoy areas for several years, systematically violating laws on subsoil, licensing, nature protection and industrial safety. In addition, the company, as the audit showed, repeatedly worked with an expired license and without a positive conclusion from the environmental impact assessment.
TNK-BP itself said yesterday that Rospan did not go beyond the law and intends to remove all claims from government agencies as a result of peaceful negotiations. In turn, the Prosecutor General's Office noted that similar repressive measures will be taken against all companies that violate laws on subsoil use, forest protection and environmental assessment. To investigate the criminal case, the prosecutor's office of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug is planning to invite Mr. Taika as a witness in the near future.