During the EEF, Norilsk Nickel confirmed the start of the Sulfur Program in October

Norilsk Nickel considers the environmental component as the most important factor in the company's development. This was stated by Andrey Grachev, Vice President for Federal and Regional Programs of PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel.

He spoke at a thematic session of the Eastern Economic Forum on the topic “Sustainable development of small and medium-sized cities: developing cooperation between business and the state.” “The first part of the unique Sulfur Program, which involves reducing emissions for the current and next year by 45-47%, is already beginning. Commissioning work is underway. There are only a few weeks left before the program opens. We hope that in October, depending on the results of the preparatory work, we will launch it.”

We pay great attention to the sustainable development of territories,” said Andrey Grachev. The company's absolute priority, he said, is creating a comfortable environment, issues of education, medical care, and clean air. “Sustainable development in our understanding is a balance between production goals, ecology and the social sphere. The total amount of expenses of Norilsk Nickel on social programs, social infrastructure and charity in 2022 amounted to 48.5 billion rubles.”

The most important tool, the Norilsk Nickel representative believes, is the mechanism of public-private partnership. “We have concluded an agreement with the Government of Russia, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the city of Norilsk on the implementation of the Norilsk renovation program until 2035. Its total budget is 120 billion rubles, of which 81.3 billion is the company’s money. The program is quite broad, covering the construction of housing and new social infrastructure - houses, schools, cultural facilities,” said Andrey Grachev.

Andrey Grachev elaborated on the experience of implementing the company’s projects in the field of public-private partnership. “It's wide enough. We have repaired the runway of Norilsk airport. We ensured that the Internet in Norilsk was no worse than in Moscow - for this they installed 1000 km of optical fiber, the project budget amounted to 2.5 billion rubles. We opened 2 medical institutions - in Dudinka and Norilsk, and we will continue the corporate medicine program in the future. Investing in people, in their health, in human capital is probably the most important principle. We are planning to reconstruct the campus of the Norilsk Industrial Institute, which in 2021 became the Polar State University. The cost of this program is 3 billion rubles. It is very important for us that children study at our university.”

Vice-President, Head of the Trans-Baikal Division of PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel Alexander Popov, during the thematic session of the EEF “Personnel for the industry of the Far East: system and prospects” noted that staff turnover in the Trans-Baikal division of the company is only about 5 percent. “And this is on a rotational basis. Uniform standards have been introduced - on salaries, working and living conditions, and medicine. But the main thing is the corporate culture and attitude towards employees. Our task is to find points of interest for everyone - sports, creativity, volunteer activities. What is important for people is involvement, social activity, and the opportunity to do something for their region and its ecology.”

Alexander Popov said that in the region the company supports the holding of such events as the Trans-Baikal International Film Festival, the Oleg Lundstrem Russian Jazz Festival, and from this year, together with the “League of Moms”, it is implementing the “Fast Sports” project, in which up to 60 thousand children from all regions of the Zabaikalsky region participate.

Speaking about environmental initiatives, Alexander Popov noted that thanks to an agreement with the RusHydro corporation, Bystrinsky Devision increased the share of renewable energy consumption from 5 to 34%. We conducted an audit and looked at what we can do for current environmental decisions and in the long term. We realized that now there is an opportunity to reduce the negative impact on the environment. In the future, we will use the possibilities of solar energy,” said the top manager.