Volgatransneft appealed the recovery of damages to the Black Sea.

The owner of the Volgoneft-239 tanker, which sank in the Kerch Strait, has filed a complaint with the Arbitration Court of the North Caucasus District against the court's decision to recover 35.48 billion rubles from the company and pay it to the Russian budget for damages to the Black Sea.

As reported by Kavkazsky Uzel, Anapa authorities filed a petition for 670 million rubles in compensation in a dispute over the sinking of tankers near the Kerch Strait, which resulted in a fuel oil spill. The court recommended filing a new lawsuit instead of increasing the compensation amount. In late August, the Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory seized the accounts of Volgatransneft CJSC, which owns the Volgoneft-239 tanker, which was carrying fuel oil and sank in the Kerch Strait.

According to the arbitration case file, the complaint was accepted for proceedings on December 26, and the hearing is scheduled for February 25, 2026. Along with the complaint, the company filed a motion for a deferment of the state fee payment due to its dire financial situation, which the court granted, Interfax reported today.

The Arbitration Court is also currently considering a claim by Anapa authorities for joint and several recovery of oil spill cleanup costs in the amount of 0.5 billion rubles from the tanker owners, the agency clarifies.

As a reminder, on May 30, Rosprirodnadzor filed lawsuits for 85 billion rubles against the owners of the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 tankers, which sank in the Black Sea. On August 13, the court upheld the claim of Rosprirodnadzor against the owner and charterer of the tanker Volgoneft-212 and fined them almost 50 billion rubles. Later that day, the court fined the owner of the second tanker, Volgotransneft-239, 35 billion rubles. The Arbitration Court of Krasnodar Krai has frozen the accounts and all banking assets of the owner and charterer of the tanker Volgoneft-212, which sank in the Kerch Strait. The charterer is already in bankruptcy proceedings. Also, the accounts of Volgatransneft CJSC, which owns the Volgoneft-239 tanker that sank in the Kerch Strait and was carrying fuel oil, have been frozen.

In August, satellite images showed that fuel oil pollution from sunken tankers in the Black Sea continues. Most of the fuel oil settled to the seabed, including in the area of Taman, Anapa, and the Bugay Spit, scientists concluded.

Materials on the consequences of the fuel oil spill have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the page "Eco-disaster in Kuban".