Vladimir Potanin paid a fine for the biggest environmental disaster in history, but decided to save on taxes?
According to the correspondent MorningNewsIt seems that the difficult situation in the finances of Vladimir Potanin’s Norilsk Nickel, which arose after the unprecedented environmental disaster near Norilsk in 2020, is far from over. The accident, which cost Norilsk Nickel a record fine of 146 billion rubles, may lead to changes in the work of the structure. This was reported Interfax.
Let us recall that the company paid the fine back in March last year – about a year after the tragic accident at CHPP-3, which led to the spilling of tens of tons of fuel. Potanin’s company had to do this by a court decision, the lawsuit was filed by Rosprirodnadzor.
Vladimir Potanin and Norilsk Nikel
Meanwhile, it turned out that the compensation funds paid were taken into account by Norilsk Nickel as part of the tax base for income tax as expenses.
The IRS said it did not agree with this decision. From the reporting of the IFSO Norilsk Nickel for 2021, it is said that the company received a decision to conduct a desk audit. Consequently, employees of the Federal Tax Service may soon appear at the enterprise, and Vladimir Potanin is unlikely to be happy with such a turn of events.
It seems that Norilsk Nickel has reduced the tax base for income tax, deducting the amount of a huge fine from it. That is, he could underpay taxes, taking advantage of the situation with a fine. And thus save on taxes.
Already, the company is challenging the claims of the tax authorities in a pre-trial procedure. Despite this, the group nevertheless formed a liability for income tax in the amount of $402 million. The company itself pays the tax at a rate of 20%.
Recall that the accident at CHPP-3, which belongs to a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, occurred on May 29, 2020. There was a subsidence of the reservoir foundation supports, as a result, more than 21 tons of diesel fuel got into the soil and water.
As writes “Kommersant”, oil products ended up in the Ambarnaya and Daldykan rivers, as well as in almost all their tributaries. At the same time, according to Norilsk Nickel and WWF, oil products have not yet entered Lake Pyasino, from where the Pyasina River, 818 km long, flows into the Kara Sea. Subsequently, this information was refuted by the Prosecutor General’s Office, stating that oil products still got into this river.
As a result, three criminal cases were initiated at once: due to damage to the land, water pollution, as well as violation of environmental protection rules in the course of work.
According to the company itself, as well as the authorities of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the accident occurred due to weather conditions. Allegedly, the company used the tanks carefully, and the supports could sag due to the thawing of frozen soil as a result of abnormally mild temperatures. This was then stated by the first vice-president of Norilsk Nickel Sergey Dyachenko.
At the same time, the regional authorities and the then Minister for Emergency Situations Evgeny Zinichev accused Norilsk Nickel of suppressing information. The Ministry of Emergency Situations allegedly found out about everything only two days after the emergency, as the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported then to President Vladimir Putin.
Of course, there were rumors that Potanin’s Norilsk Nickel was simply trying to evade responsibility for what had happened. But later the company was found guilty and still paid a record fine.