To continue the fight for exemption from environmental charges

The Krasnoyarsk department of Rosprirodnadzor no longer has any claims against OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel. The supervisory authority abandoned the claim against the metallurgical company after it transferred 961.9 million rubles to the budget. payments for negative environmental impact in 2011. Norilsk Nickel tried to convince the court that it should be exempt from payment because it spent the same amount on environmental protection measures. The company believes that it still has legal options to return the transferred funds.

Statement by the territorial department of Rosprirodnadzor on the withdrawal of the claim against Norilsk Nickel for the collection of arrears in payments for negative environmental impacts in the amount of RUB 961.9 million. was considered in the Krasnoyarsk Arbitration Court yesterday. “The proceedings in the case have been decided to be terminated,” the court’s press service reported.

“The basis for the withdrawal of the claim was the full payment by Norilsk Nickel of the debt for 2011 on payments for the negative impact on the environment. The money was transferred to the budget on May 24 - the day after the court hearing, where we presented our arguments,” explained Lyudmila Borisova, head of the legal support department of the Rosprirodnadzor territorial administration.

The agency filed claims against Nornickel with the Krasnoyarsk Arbitration Court in April. The basis for this was the management’s refusal to accept the company’s expenses for environmental protection measures implemented during 2011 as environmental payments. The right to take into account the company's expenses on environmental measures against payments for negative impacts on the environment is given by regional legislation. We are talking about the decree of the administration of the Krasnoyarsk Territory No. 180 “On the procedure for making decisions on adjusting the amount of payment for negative impacts on the environment, taking into account the use of funds by resource users to carry out environmental protection measures,” adopted back in April 2004. The list of companies and the specific amounts of pollution fee reductions are reviewed annually by a special commission, after which they are approved by order of the chairman of the regional government. Rosprirodnadzor does not agree with this practice. In February of this year, he demanded that the Krasnoyarsk authorities cancel the resolution giving the right to carry out offsets on environmental payments in 2012, but a decision on this issue has not yet been made.

The press service of Norilsk Nickel explained that the company paid the funds solely to obtain a certificate from Rosprirodnadzor about the absence of debt on environmental payments, without which the region cannot adjust and offset them. Having received such a certificate, the company intends to claim through the court the 961.9 million rubles paid to the budget. The press service of Norilsk Nickel could not clarify who exactly the lawsuit will be filed against.

In addition to MMC Norilsk Nickel, two more companies applied to the regional government for compensation for environmental payments for 2011: OJSC Yenisei TGC (TGK-13) (for 12.5 million rubles) and LLC Krasnoyarsk Housing and Communal Complex ( "Kraskom", for 19.3 million rubles). Unlike Norilsk Nickel, Krascom refuses to pay fines issued by Rosprirodnadzor. On May 22, following the company’s claim, the Krasnoyarsk Arbitration Court ordered the management to issue offsets for payment for the negative impact. The basis for this decision was the company’s implementation of the stated environmental protection measures plan and the contract concluded with the regional government on carrying out an offset if this condition is met. According to Ms. Borisova, the territorial directorate of Rosprirodnadzor is now preparing to challenge this decision in the appellate court. “The company has no debts on payments for negative environmental impacts at the end of 2011, as well as in previous years,” the press service of TGK-13 reported, in turn.

The Krasnoyarsk government refused to comment on the court decision. They only reported that all of the above companies had already submitted an application to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry of the Krasnoyarsk Territory to adjust environmental payments for 2012.

Dmitry Malkov, Krasnoyarsk

It's easier for Norilsk Nickel to pay