The compensation will be paid to 699 members of tribal communities and individuals fishing at Lake Pyasino and the Pyasinа River. The list of recipients has been agreed with community representatives and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North. The total allocated amount is around RUB 174 mln, with payments set to commence this week.

The amount of damages due to indigenous northern minorities affected by the diesel fuel spill at HPP-3 of Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company (NTEC) was estimated on the basis of an ethnic review organised by the Arctic Development Project Office. The review directly involved representatives of Taimyr indigenous communities and took nearly six months to complete.

“For us, the most important result of the ethnic review is a positive assessment of our efforts by indigenous peoples. Today, we have presented the review’s findings, including, among other things, our estimates of direct damages. This is the main testament to Nornickel’s recognition of the damage caused and its intent to compensate for direct consequences thereof. We have also planned other supportive measures on top of the compensation payouts, including cultural development, fish stocking, land rehabilitation, and creating new jobs and a number of new businesses,” said Andrey Ivanov, coordinator of the Arctic Development Project Office.

“It is really a historic moment for me personally and for the communities. We have been working towards it. All parties made significant contributions — that includes the company, social activists and the local administration. There do remain some outstanding issues, and I believe we will address them as we go. The main outcome is the high standard that has been set and that will serve as a benchmark for other miners,” commented Aksinya Porotova, representative of the Mukustur indigenous community.

During the expedition, scientists collected reliable data on the actual effect of the deterioration of land and other biological resources caused by anthropogenic activity (including land damage) and identified the types of potential impact on indigenous minorities in their traditional places of habitation and activity. They also estimated the damage inflicted on indigenous people, both tribal communities and individuals, in their traditional places of habitation and activity.

In their assessment of impact on indigenous habitats, experts relied on official Russian methodological recommendations, instructions and guidelines on the analysis of changes in the natural habitat and their effect on indigenous minorities of the North, Siberia and Far East. In particular, they relied on the Order of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, methodological recommendations on the assessment of land quality in the traditional habitats of indigenous minorities of the North, Siberia and Far East, and the methodologies for the calculation of damages caused to indigenous minorities by business operations. They used system analysis methods to develop impact forecasts, including the expert evaluation method for the analysis of non-quantifiable impacts.

“This is the first case of an ethnic review performed to assess the impact of contamination on the traditional use of natural resources by northern ethnic minorities rather than for a proposed business project. Thus, Nornickel has introduced a new business practice in the Russian Arctic and set a new standard of local community relations. The compensation will be paid out in full to all indigenous recipients identified by the experts and local communities throughout the year and early next year. Moreover, in the next five years the company will be implementing a RUB 2 bn programme of support for indigenous northern minorities focused on the development of infrastructure in Volochanka and Ust-Avam settlements; reintroduction of reindeer herding in the Avam tundra; development of community fishing, hunting and produce processing; and projects to preserve the culture and traditional way of life of indigenous peoples on the Taimyr Peninsula,” said Andrey Grachev, Vice President for Federal and Regional Programmes at Nornickel.

Nornickel’s unit to pay compensation to indigenous communities affected by fuel spill