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Company Response

16 Mar 2021

Nornickel responded

[full response attached]

Nornickel takes its environmental responsibilities incredibly seriously. We acknowledge that there are legacy issues relating to our business, and we are implementing far-reaching measures to address them... As part of these efforts, we are reviewing mine and plant closure plans in all our divisions, with the shutdown of our oldest production facility – a smelting shop in the town of Nickel – being the latest step in that direction.

We take full responsibility for the consequences of the diesel spill and are doing everything we can to rectify the situation. We responded quickly to contain and remediate the spill, collecting over 90% of leaked fuel, and have paid damages in full of 146.2 billion roubles (around US$2 billion). We also know that we must improve our emissions profile, and have stringent targets in place...

Nornickel has the utmost respect for the rights of indigenous communities in our regions of operation. We are fully invested in these communities and design our projects to avoid adverse impact on them. Nornickel has a strong legacy of engagement and support of indigenous people, and notably we have signed a five year 2 billion rouble cooperation agreement with three associations of indigenous people living in the North and in the Taymir Peninsula in particular...

Furthermore, in December 2020, in the wake of the unfortunate diesel fuel spill in May, Nornickel began paying direct compensations for damages to 699 individuals – representatives of indigenous communities whose livelihoods depend on fishing in Lake Pyasino and the Pyasina River – in the amount of 174 million roubles.

In early March 2021, Nornickel signed a cooperation agreement with the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs (FAEA) to promote sustainable development, better quality of life, preserve and foster traditional way of life of indigenous peoples living across the company’s geographies...

In mid-March, Nornickel pledged to restore fauna habitats in Norilsk’s vicinity that may have been affected by the fuel spill...

Finally, we are fully committed to the highest standards of corporate governance. Management remuneration is linked to ESG performance, we have a balanced board led by an independent chairman and carry out comprehensive and transparent annual ESG reporting. We recently announced changes to our governance structure, giving more power to each of our three divisions to handle operational management. This will increase the level of responsibility of the local employees, strengthening industrial safety and environmental risk management, and improving efficiency.

Changes do take time, but we are fully resolved to see them through and make sure that both our employees and local communities feel safe and fully supported, and see real benefits of our transformative efforts.

For more information on the above topics, please see Nornickel’s website which contains details of all of our ESG activities...

Timeline