Volgatransneft failed to challenge the method for calculating damages for the fuel oil spill.

The Krasnodar Regional Court upheld the calculation method used by the Kuban Ministry of Natural Resources to estimate damage to wildlife following the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait at 34.2 billion rubles.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory estimated the damage to wildlife following the tanker accident in the Kerch Strait at 34.22 billion rubles. In addition, the regional ministry demanded that the defendants recover 30.725 million rubles in damages to the Krasnodar Territory budget.

The Krasnodar Regional Court heard an administrative case brought by Volgatransneft CJSC against the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory challenging a regulatory legal act. The plaintiff requested that the methodology for calculating the amount of damage caused to wildlife not classified as game and fisheries and their habitat, approved by order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory, be declared invalid. The United Press Service of the Courts of the Krasnodar Territory reported today.

The grounds for the claim stated that the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory filed a claim with the Arbitration Court against Volgatransneft CJSC for compensation for damage caused to wildlife listed in the Red Book of the Krasnodar Territory, as well as other wildlife, in the amount of 34,122,951,673 rubles. This amount was calculated based on the contested Methodology.

In the claim, the company stated that the regional executive body does not have the right to establish its own regulatory framework for calculating the amount of damage caused to the environment, as this issue falls within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia.

The court found that laws do not prohibit regional agencies from determining the amount of damage caused to one of the components of the natural environment listed in the Red Book of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation and refused to satisfy the claim.