Aerial view shows the site of a diesel fuel leak in the river after an accident at a power plant outside Norilsk
Moscow:
Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel faced pressure from a key shareholder on Tuesday to review management after disasters, including a massive fuel spill in the Arctic that triggered a state of emergency.
Aluminum producer Rusal, which owns 28 percent of Norilsk Nickel, said it was “gravely concerned” about the recent environmental accidents in the Russian Arctic and called for management changes.
“What is happening now at Nornickel invites serious questioning of the competence of the management of the company as well as its ability to run the company,” Rusal said in a statement.
He also criticized management’s “collective inertia” which it said could lead to “damaging criticism from the environmental and investment communities”.
President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency after 21,000 tonnes of diesel leaked from a fuel storage tank at one of Norilsk Nickel’s Arctic subsidiaries in late May.
A massive clean-up effort involved trapping floating diesel with floating dams on crucial waterways to prevent it from flowing into freshwater lakes.
Putin said he expected Norilsk Nickel to completely restore the environment.
Rusal said he was calling on Norilsk Nickel to move its headquarters from Moscow to the Arctic city of Norilsk – the site of several recent environmental accidents, including the fuel spill.
In the press release, the aluminum producer called on Norilsk Nickel to review “the company’s environmental and safety policies”.
Russian environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor fined a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel 147.8 billion rubles ($ 2.05 billion) for the spill, but the company is disputing the amount.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
