Putin for law change after Arctic fuel spill

Moscow, June 5

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Russian President Vladimir Putin chided the billionaire boss of Norilsk Nickel on Friday over a huge Arctic fuel spill and ordered changes to the law to try to prevent such a disaster again.

Greenpeace has compared the scale of last week’s accident near the northern city of Norilsk, where 21,000 tonnes of diesel poured into rivers and subsoil, to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.

Putin has declared a state of emergency in the region and complained of a bungled state response, while Russia’s Prosecutor General’s office on Friday ordered a review of all hazardous objects built on permafrost after saying it looked like the ground beneath a fuel tank had subsided.

Potanin, the largest shareholder in Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel) with a 34.6% stake, said he couldn’t estimate any potential fines from the authorities, but the firm would cover clear-up costs set to top 10 billion roubles. — Reuters