The incident occurred on 29 May 2020, when sudden subsidence of piles led to depressurisation of the back-up fuel storage facility at HPP-3, causing diesel fuel to spill. In a short span of time, 21.2 kt of diesel fuel went beyond the bunding, flowing into a designated pit, onto adjacent grounds, and into the Bezymyanny Stream.

Through the Bezymyanny Stream via the Daldykan River, the fuel then reached the Ambarnaya River, where containment protective booms were quickly constructed. This helped prevent the fuel spill into Lake Pyasino. Occurring far away from the city, the incident did not affect day-to-day activities in Norilsk.

Nornickel immediately responded to the fuel spill with a series of clean-up actions. An emergency response task force was set up in Norilsk and included representatives of local and regional authorities, Nornickel’s senior management, law enforcement and other government agencies. The clean-up was conducted in and around HPP-3, in the adjacent areas and waterways.

By October 2020 key stages of clean-up have been finished: over 90% of spilt fuel was collected, all contaminated soil was removed. In the next years the Company plans to continue working to remediate the affected territory and eliminate the damage done.

The Company estimates the total clean-up costs at about RUB 12 bn.

On 10 March 2021, the Company fully paid the fine imposed by court over the diesel fuel spill at NTEC’s HPP-3 in the amount of RUB 146.2 bn. Of this amount, RUB 145.5 mln was paid to Russia’s federal budget and RUB 685 mln went into the budget of Norilsk.

In the face of a global challenge — COVID-2019 pandemic, Nornickel took all the necessary steps to protect health and safety of its employees and efficiently adapt business processes to new circumstances.

During the lockdown the Company imposed a blanket ban on job cuts, maintained 100% of the salaries at the same level, transitioned office staff to remote work and provided them with all the necessary equipment for distant work. All the necessary steps were taken to supply all operating assets with individual protective gear and health monitoring devices.

The Company took prompt action to maximise the lockdown of residents across its footprint by allocating considerable resources to support medical institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises, educational institutions, and non-profit organisations.

Since the introduction of the lockdown measures and high alert status in March, Nornickel provided substantial sponsorship support to healthcare institutions in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Murmansk, Saratov, Tver, and some other regions of Russia. The money was used to purchase coronavirus tests kits, ambulance cars, medical equipment, including lung ventilators, disinfectants, and personal protective equipment.

> 20 bn RUB
has been allocated by Nornickel to fight COVID-19 and maintain social stability across its footprint^*:

• over 372,000 COVID-19 test kits
• 150,000 express antibody test kits
• 15 mobile labs
• 12 stationary labs
• 7 ambulance cars
• about 400 thermal imaging systems
• 412 ventilators
• personal protective equipment, including more than 10 mln masks