GMK “Norilsk Nickel” will take care of all expenses on liquidation of consequences of leak of more than 21 thousand tons of fuel owned by CHP-3, assured principal owner of the company Vladimir Potanin President Vladimir Putin. The businessman, spending will exceed 10 billion rubles MMC are Also willing to pay any fines. This is the first appearance of Mr. Potanin since the accident, and the position of the President, although he criticized Norilsk Nickel, has generally been quite soft. The lack of harsh criticism has led to the growth of Norilsk Nickel shares.The President and main owner of Norilsk Nickel Vladimir Potanin has estimated the cost of liquidation of the accident at TPP-3 under the Norilsk 10 billion rubles. the Company takes all the costs yourself, you will not have to spend “a single ruble of budget funds”, said Mr. Potanin during the meeting with Vladimir Putin on the situation with the oil spill CHPP-3. The President stressed that, “if timely changed (tanks.— “B”), and the damage would not be ecological, and would such costs did not have to carry.” “Look at that very carefully within the company”,— said Vladimir Putin, whose rhetoric, in contrast to the first meeting on this topic June 3, was quite mild, including the address of Norilsk Nickel.The accident occurred on may 29 at CHP-3, which is owned by subsidiaries of Norilsk Nickel. As a result of subsidence of the supports of the Foundation in the environment, including in twin river, were more than 21 thousand tons of winter diesel fuel. On the territory of the Krasnoyarsk region introduced a state of emergency at the Federal level, to eliminate the consequences involved, including the oil industry. The emergencies Ministry has reported localization of the oil spill.Speech at the meeting with the President became the first public review of Vladimir Potanin in respect of the accident. The negative news background around the company in recent days, contained calls for the removal of a businessman from the management MMC and perhaps its nationalization.The ex-partner of Mr. Potanin, and Mikhail Prokhorov, who until 2008 was one of the largest shareholders of MMC in and out of her with a loud conflict, 5 Jun stood up for the colleague. He said that calls for the nationalization of the company and use of power structures for change of ownership sets a dangerous precedent: “This is a serious threat to everyone who manages and develops private enterprise in the country, from small restaurants to industrial giants.”Photo: still from the video “Russia 24″This position was supported by the press-Secretary of President Dmitry Peskov, who said that the Kremlin had not heard about the calls to nationalize the company, and warned against military pressure on Norilsk Nickel. The calm attitude of the President confirmed that, at least for now, the authorities do not plan hard to deal with MMC or its shareholders, criticizing her less special�� than MOE or regional authorities.To read next the same time, as predicted by “Kommersant”, the industrial enterprises at least in the Arctic can expect a wave of inspections. Vladimir Putin instructed Rosprirodnadzor to assess the status of sites like Norilsk, and to carry out checks if necessary. In addition, the President expects to prepare amendments to the legislation of the Russian Federation for the prevention of such accidents. “Finally, the government jointly with the Parliament to complete the work on introduction of environmental legislation fundamental changes that will prevent similar situations in the future. It must be done in the near future, before the end of the current parliamentary session,” said the President.Shares of MMC at 16:00 MSK increased by 3.1 per cent to 20,632 thousand rubles. apiece. Assessment Irina Elizarovskiy of Raiffeisenbank, stated obligations on the liquidation of the accident at 10 billion rubles can be considered a small sum to the extent of “Norilsk Nickel”. “Effects of COVID-19 I appreciate serious, so I think that debt load can be increased up to 1,5–1,6 EBITDA for the year (mainly due to the effects of COVID-19), but it will not lead to lower dividends. And capex cut is not necessary”,— the expert believes.By the end of 2019 Norilsk Nickel has reported an increase in net profit almost doubled to $6 billion, and EBITDA by 27%, to $7.9 billion In April 2020, the company announced that it held a mobilization operating lines of credit and created a cash reserve of about $5 billion, Together with undrawn credit lines, the total size of the liquidity cushion in excess of $7 billion, which allows us to serve and to pay the debts within three years without raising additional financing.Eugene Zainullin
