“Surgutneftegaz” stands on guard – Kommersant Novosibirsk

The Arbitration Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory satisfied the claim of Surgutneftegas PJSC against the Nganasan community for the seizure of 41.5 hectares from it in the Taimyr village of Karaul with compensation of 1 million rubles. The company needs the areas to develop the field under a license received in 2018. Representatives of the indigenous people demanded compensation commensurate with the losses and considered the court’s decision “genocide of endangered peoples.” The defendants intend to challenge it on appeal.

In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the arbitration court completed the consideration of the case on the claim of Surgutneftegaz against the Nganasan family (tribal) community “Nya tansa” (“Nganasan family”). Proceedings on it were initiated in April last year. In the lawsuit, the oil and gas company demanded that two plots with a total area of ​​41.5 hectares be seized from the community for the state needs of the Russian Federation “in order to use the subsoil.” They are located at the mouth of the Kuba River within the boundaries of the village of Karaul, Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets municipal district.

The two plots referred to in the case were allocated from a larger one with an area of ​​67.4 thousand hectares. His community received a 49-year lease in 2014 under an agreement with the district property relations department. In 2021, the subsoil use department for the Central Siberian District of Rosnedra issued an order to allocate two land plots of 41.5 hectares from it and withdraw them “in connection with the implementation of subsoil use in accordance with the subsoil use license granted by Surgutneftegas PJSC, KRR 03096 HP”. According to Rosnedra, the license was issued in 2018 with a validity period of 2036 for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the Agapsky subsoil area. This order instructed Surgutneftegaz to negotiate with the copyright holder on the terms of the seizure.

The land plots are located at a distance of 120–150 km from the settlement. According to the conclusions of the experts who conducted the assessment, “there are no improvements to the land plots, the plots are free of buildings, structures and could potentially be used as pastures for reindeer grazing, the community has no income or expenses for past and future periods from the use of the plots.”

The very fact of the seizure of “Nya Tansa” was not disputed. But, according to the community, the amount of compensation specified in the claim is disproportionate to the negative consequences that the confiscation of areas of traditional economic activity of the Nganasan will bring.

According to the case materials, experts initially estimated the amount of compensation at 105 thousand rubles. Subsequently, this amount increased to 1 million rubles.

The amount of damages, it was noted in the response to the claim, was determined without taking into account the methodology, which is an annex to the regional law “Fundamentals of Legal Guarantees for Indigenous Minorities of the North of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.”

As a result, the Krasnoyarsk Arbitration Court satisfied the claim of Surgutneftegaz. “The sites will be used by the company in strict accordance with the license agreement,” the company told Kommersant-Sibir.

“This is the genocide of the disappearing peoples – the Nganasans and Enets, both of my ancient clans. How can you be responsible on your own land?” — the head of Nya Tansa, Valeria Bolgova, commented to Kommersant-Siberia on the outcome of the trial. The Taimyr administration (the municipal property relations department was involved in the case as a third party) did not evaluate the court’s decision.

The decision of the Krasnoyarsk Arbitration Court can be appealed to the Third Arbitration Court of Appeal. According to Mrs. Bolgova, “Nya Tansa” will take advantage of this opportunity.

Valery Lavsky