Prosecutor-general’s office: Late payments for Arctic environmental damage exceed four billion rubles
© RIA Novosti. Laura Korobkova

Prosecutor-General’s Office: Late payments for Arctic environmental damage exceed four billion rubles

Current arrears in payments for environmental damage in the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions and the Nenets Autonomous Area exceeds four billion rubles due to the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources' (Rosprirodnadzor) incomplete recovery of the debts of "saboteurs'", the press service of the Prosecutor-General's Office told RIA Novosti.

"In violation of Article 16 of Act No.7-FZ and Article 160.1 of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation, Rosprirodnadzor's branches for the Arkhangelsk and the Murmansk regions and the Nenets Autonomous Area failed to take full-scale measures to enforce payments for adverse environmental impacts, which resulted in debts totaling four billion rubles," the statement reads.

The Prosecutor-General's Office in cooperation with the regional prosecutors' offices discovered the debts in the course of verifying compliance with the law on environmental protection in the Arctic Region. Among other things, the inspection proved that Rosprirodnadzor's branches failed to keep permanent records of facilities polluting the environment. Local authorities and businesses frequently fail to ensure compliance with the rules of waste collection, distribution, accumulation, recycling and detoxification.

The Prosecutor-General's Office has issued a citation to Rosprirodnadzor and Rosrybolovstvo (the Federal Agency for Fishery) for various violations in this field and sent information to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Minprirody) and the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Rosgidromet). Offenders will be compelled to restore the fish stock and carry out soil reclamation in the event that illegal waste deposits or pollution of rivers, ponds or swamps is discovered.