The Zapadnaya Group of Companies is committed to environmental protection and operates in accordance with the environmental legislation of the Russian Federation, the regions in which it operates and the local regulations of its enterprises.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY OF THE ZAPADNAYA GROUP OF COMPANIES:
✔️Priority is given to measures to prevent negative impact over measures to eliminate them.
The most effective way to prevent negative consequences is to implement numerous plans and programs agreed with supervisory authorities and/or provided for by the state environmental assessment, as well as attention and control of management, engineering and technical personnel and environmental services.
Plans and programs are implemented through sample testing using an accredited laboratory. Continuous monitoring of the condition of soils, water and bottom sediments, and atmospheric air in the zone of influence of production facilities is carried out.
We are also prepared for possible emergency situations. Several accident scenarios have been identified that could result in environmental contamination. We have calculated the amount of damage for each of the options, and we have reserved the necessary financial resources to implement measures to eliminate pollution and compensate for damage.
✔️ We maintain a level of environmental safety that meets modern requirements for the operation of a category I facility with a negative impact on the environment.
A special feature of the design, construction and operation of a facility classified by federal legislation as category I of the NVOS is that the state will pay particular attention to it. This requires the availability of qualified personnel and the coordination of planned activities at all stages, from design documentation to commissioning. We have secured significant additional funding for environmental protection measures, examinations, and indirect costs to provide the enterprise with the necessary documentation.
✔️ We are committed to transparency in sharing information about the environmental impact of our planned activities.
We hold regular meetings with representatives of the Zapadnaya Group of Companies, heads of district administrations, heads of state supervisory authorities and residents of the regions where we operate. These events form part of the public discussions of the planned activities. The environmental services team present the results of the engineering surveys and environmental impact assessments.
✔️ Compliance with legal requirements and implementation of environmental protection measures are essential.
One of the environmental measures is the participation of companies in fish stocking programmes for rivers and lakes. Zapadnaya Mining Enterprise (Yakutia) has identified the Vilyuiskoye Reservoir, located on a tributary of the river Lena, as the reservoir for the release of juvenile fish. This is the reservoir that the East Siberian Territorial Administration of Rosrybolovstvo has identified for the release of juvenile fish. The Chernyshevsky fish hatchery was сonctracted to raise fry of peled, a commercial fish of the whitefish family, at the request of the Enterprise. In June 2023, 230 thousand juvenile peled were released into the reservoir in the presence of representatives of Zapadnaya Mining Enterprise and Rosrybolovstvo.
Zapadnaya Prospectors Syndicate (Buryatia) is committed to implementing design decisions related to negative impacts on surface water bodies. As part of this commitment, the company pays compensation for damage caused to aquatic biological resources and their habitat in the form of purchasing local juvenile fish and releasing them into Lake Baikal or its tributaries.
