The Kuban Ministry of Natural Resources has demanded over 34 billion rubles from the owners of the sunken tankers.

The Kuban Ministry of Natural Resources has filed a lawsuit demanding that the owners and charterer of tankers that sank in the Black Sea pay over 34 billion rubles for environmental damage and losses to the regional budget. This latest lawsuit was filed by officials amid volunteers' dissatisfaction with the government's role in cleaning up fuel oil.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," in May 2025, Rosprirodnadzor filed lawsuits for nearly 85 billion rubles against the owners of two tankers that sank in the Black Sea. On August 13, the court upheld the lawsuit against Kamatransoil LLC (owner of the Volgoneft-212 tanker) and Kama Shipping LLC (charterer of the Volgoneft-212 tanker) and fined them nearly 50 billion rubles. Later that day, the court fined Volgatransneft CJSC, the owner of the second tanker, Volgotransneft-239, 35 billion rubles. Kamatransoil appealed the court's decision, but the appellate court refused to uphold the complaint.

A new multi-billion ruble lawsuit has been filed by the Kuban Ministry of Natural Resources

The Kuban Arbitration Court has accepted a claim from the regional Ministry of Natural Resources for 34.2 billion rubles in environmental damages. The defendants in the lawsuit are Volgatransneft CJSC, Kamatransoil LLC, and Kama Shipping LLC, Kommersant reported today.

The fuel oil spill near Anapa has affected the state of algae and Mussel

The Prosecutor General's Office, the state institution "Kuban Geology Regional Center for Geological Information, Monitoring of the Geological Environment and Mineral Reserves," and Kuban State University have been brought in as third parties to the case.

The court ordered the plaintiff to provide evidence supporting the stated claims and the validity of the calculation of the amounts of losses and damages. The defendants are ordered to submit written, reasoned responses to the claim outlining their objections and citing supporting documents, the publication writes.

The decision accepting the claim for proceedings, posted on the court's website, is dated January 30. The text of the document indicates that the claim was filed on January 26. The lawsuit seeks 30,725,000 rubles in damages to the Krasnodar Krai budget and 34.2 billion rubles in environmental damages.

"The case is scheduled for an interview and preliminary hearing on February 24, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. in the courtroom," the ruling states.

Authorities are demanding compensation from companies amid volunteers' claims against officials themselves

As a reminder, in 2025, the Anapa mayor's office also sued the owners and charterer of the tankers for 211 million rubles, which were spent on eliminating the consequences of the environmental disaster. At the end of May, the claim amount was increased 2.6-fold, to 545 million rubles, and in August it rose to 647.4 million rubles.

14:47 16.12.2025

On the anniversary of the tanker disaster, the problem of pollution of Kuban beaches remains pressing

The environmental consequences of the fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait have not been eliminated even a year after the tanker disaster, scientists and Kuban authorities have acknowledged.

In November, Anapa authorities filed a motion to increase the claim to 669.2 million rubles, citing payments under municipal contracts for the cleanup of the fuel oil spill. The court recommended filing a new lawsuit instead of increasing the compensation amount.

Meanwhile, volunteers participating in the coastal cleanup repeatedly expressed skepticism about the authorities' role in removing the fuel oil.

For example, on December 19, 2024, volunteers complained about a shortage of equipment and personnel, the collected fuel oil was not being removed on time, and local authorities were merely faking their efforts by reporting the involvement of public sector employees and Cossacks. On December 20, 2024, Kuban Governor Veniamin Kondratyev conducted a demonstrative photo report on the cleanup of Anapa's beaches, although the volunteers were not included in the photo. Meanwhile, the volunteers' strength is dwindling, and the authorities are providing no assistance with special equipment and supplies, volunteers stated that day.

Authorities reported that more than 850 people were involved in the cleanup of the oil spill, but only a few Kuban-Spas employees could be seen on the coast, volunteers noted in November 2025, inquiring about where the main forces were deployed.

Fuel oil was found on all the beaches of Anapa, on the coast in the Temryuk district, and on the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov in the Slavyansk district of Kuban, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "The Extent of Fuel Oil Pollution in Southern Russia".

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