Nornickel challenges $2.1bln oil spill fine

Russian miner and smelter Nornickel has challenged a $2.1 billion bill issued by the country's environmental watchdog on July 6 after a huge oil spill in May.

Nornickel faces at least $2.4 billion in costs arising from the spill, with the biggest of these being the $2.1 billion bill that it challenged on Wednesday July 8.
The company questioned the imposition of punitive damages, as well as alleging that the environment supervision agency, Rosprirodnadzor, had not correctly determined how much oil had spilled into local waterways. Nor had Rosprirodnadzor considered how the solubility of oil makes it difficult to clean, Nornickel said on Wednesday.

The fine was said to be the biggest in Russia's environmental...

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