From three companies recovered е34.3 billion for the spill of fuel oil in the Kerch Strait

The Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory ordered Kamatransoil, Kama Shipping and Volgatransneft to jointly pay almost 34.3 billion rubles as compensation for environmental damage after the collapse of tankers in the Kerch Strait in December 2024, TASS reports.

The plaintiff was the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory. In addition to compensation for damage, the court recovered from the companies 10 million rubles. state duty to the federal budget. The petitions of the defendants to involve insurance companies in the case as co-defendants, the court rejected.

During the proceedings, Volgatransneft insisted on equity liability. The company claimed that the circumstances of the accident of the Volgoneft-239 tanker were different from the situation with Volgoneft-212. In particular, representatives of the company stated that the fuel oil from the first vessel did not cause pollution of the coast of Anapa.

The Prosecutor General’s Office opposed this position. The representative of the Ministry explained that the spill occurred simultaneously from two tankers, so it is impossible to establish which vessel received fuel oil. For this reason, the damage, according to the position of the prosecutor's office, should be recovered jointly and severally.

The claim of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory for 34.25 billion rubles to the companies Volgatransneft, Kamatransoil and Kama Shipping The Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory accepted for consideration on January 31.

Tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 crashed on December 15, 2024 in the Kerch Strait. They transported 9.2 thousand tons of fuel oil. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, about half spilled into the sea. The coasts of the Crimea and Krasnodar Territory were contaminated with fuel oil.

Rospotrebnadzor recognized the beaches of Anapa and Temryuk district unsuitable for swimming. Because of this, the tourist flow in Anapa fell by 70%. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the incident “an environmental disaster”.