A court in the southern Krasnodar region has frozen the bank accounts of two companies associated with last year’s significant oil spill in the Black Sea as part of an ongoing legal case concerning environmental damages.
On Friday, the Krasnodar region Arbitration Court granted a request from the state environmental regulatory agency, Rosprirodnadzor, to freeze the accounts of Kamatransoil, which owns the Volgoneft 212 tanker, as well as its chartering firm, Kama Shipping. Rosprirodnadzor is pursuing 49.5 billion rubles (approximately $614 million) in compensation from these companies due to the oil spill that occurred in December 2024.
In a related ruling last week, the court directed Volgatransneft, the owner of another tanker involved in the incident, Volgoneft 239, to pay 35.5 billion rubles (around $439 million). The company has announced its intention to contest this decision.
The spill took place on December 15, when two aging Russian tankers were caught in a storm, leading to the release of thousands of tons of heavy fuel oil into the waters near the coasts of annexed Crimea and Krasnodar. In response to the disaster, thousands of volunteers and emergency responders participated in the cleanup efforts, addressing hundreds of thousands of tons of contaminated sand.
Later, the Russian Transportation Ministry stated that the vessel owners and their captains had disregarded seasonal navigation restrictions. In March, President Vladimir Putin noted that the oil spill resulted from “neglect of safety regulations and carelessness,” which had severe repercussions for the population, the environment, and the economy.
Additionally, the resort town of Anapa is seeking 647.43 million rubles ($8 million) in compensation from the owners of the tankers, while the Maritime Rescue Service is pursuing 485.1 million rubles ($6 million) in damages.
