At the presentation on May 23 in Moscow, the management of Norilsk Nickel presented the main results in the field of sustainable development for 2022, which were discussed by representatives of the company's regions of presence, the scientific and expert community, as well as by Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished.
Vladimir Zhukov, Vice-President of Norilsk Nickel for Investor Relations and Sustainable Development, noted in his speech that the company operates in new geopolitical conditions, which significantly complicates the promotion of a sustainable development strategy.
"In addition to the traditional challenges associated with the volatility of our basket of metals and the volatility of exchange rates, a number of new serious challenges have arisen. This is related to our sales activities and logistics," he said.
According to Zhukov, the share of sales of Norilsk Nickel to Europe in January - March 2023 amounted to 24%, to North and South America - 17%. At the same time, the share of sales to Asia reached 45% during the reporting period, and to Russia and the CIS - 13%.
By the end of 2022, Europe accounted for 47% of Norilsk Nickel's sales against 53% a year earlier, Asia - 31% against 27%. Another 15% accounted for North and South America (the indicator did not change in relation to 2021), Russia and the CIS - 8% compared to 4% a year earlier.
"Our traditional markets - the markets of Europe and North and South America - continue to play a big role, but their importance is declining. Over the past year or so, we have noticeably reoriented our sales to Asian markets. The largest for us is China. Sales in the domestic market have also increased," commented the Vice President of Norilsk Nickel.
The head of the company, Vladimir Potanin, stated earlier that Norilsk Nickel will struggle to maintain its positions in traditional markets and expects to return to them after the end of the period of instability.
Speaking about Norilsk Nickel's investment program, Zhukov said that in 2012-2020, the company's average capital investments amounted to about $1.7 billion per year, and in 2022 this amount was more than doubled to $4.3 billion. For the current year, the goal is to invest about $4.7 billion, which is a record level of capital investment for the company.
Coincidentally, against the background of these external challenges, Zhukov noted, Norilsk Nickel is at the peak of its investment program, and one of its key elements is the flagship environmental project. And this is despite the fact that the company's costs for sustainable development increased significantly last year.
"From the point of view of the operating room, last year we fulfilled all our promises. The production of all metals was in accordance with the plan. For this year, we set the task, in principle, also to achieve our plans. A slight decrease in production, which is planned in nickel, is due to the repair of one of our furnaces, which we have planned for a long time. In principle, we plan to maintain, despite all these difficult new circumstances, the production of metals at a high unchanged level," said the Vice president of Norilsk Nickel.
According to him, despite the pressure that the financial model of Norilsk Nickel is experiencing, the company confirms the priority of the movement on the sustainable development agenda, although it is "a very expensive pleasure."
In turn, Anton Berlin, Vice President and head of the sales and Commerce unit of the company, informed that domestic demand for Norilsk Nickel, palladium, platinum and copper products has reached the highest levels in the last 20 years, sales in Russia will continue to grow.
Berlin expects that domestic demand for the company's products in Russia will continue to grow. "If earlier we assumed that we are a raw country and can import everything, then the new reality shows that it is desirable to have the production of a lot of things inside the country," he said.
Stanislav Seleznev, Vice President of Norilsk Nickel for Ecology and Industrial Safety, in turn, said that within the framework of the Clean Air project, the company will launch the first automatic emission control system at the Copper plant in Norilsk this summer.
"Then we have plans to install five complexes at the Nadezhdinsky Metallurgical Plant, and we will continue to replicate," Seleznev said. At the same time, the installation of one such complex produced in Russia on a factory pipe costs "several tens of millions".
Seleznev also said that in September 2023 Norilsk Nickel will launch an air quality control system in Norilsk and Monchegorsk. A mobile application will be created, thanks to which every resident will be able to see the result of her work.
Speaking at the presentation, the Mayor of Norilsk Dmitry Karasev spoke about the joint work of Norilsk Nickel and the city administration.
The city is changing for the better, becoming more attractive to tourists. The number of tourists in Norilsk has exceeded 10 thousand people in just a year.
According to Karasev, it was possible to achieve such an indicator thanks to joint work with the Norilsk Development Agency for the development of tourist destinations and other areas of the city's activities. In particular, a new tourism cluster "Arctic" is currently being built in Norilsk.
Karasev stressed that "by developing eco-tourism, the company is also open to the development of industrial tourism, allowing tourists to visit their tourist sites, production facilities, and introduce them to completely new modern technologies."
In addition, Norilsk Nickel participates in the implementation of other social projects, such as the design of the Arctic Museum of Modern Art on the territory of the city of Norilsk, the construction of a new ice arena and a swimming pool – objects so in demand by residents.
According to the head of the city, the company's contribution to education also makes the city more attractive to young people. The construction of a new modern innovative Lyceum named after V. I. Dolgikh, which will work in conjunction with the Polar State University, will provide a new level of education in Norilsk.
Norilsk Nickel has also committed itself to the construction of a new campus for teachers and students, the mayor of Norilsk said.
In his speech during the presentation of the results achieved by Norilsk Nickel in the field of sustainable development, Vasily Sergeevich Zakharov, Chief Manager of Federal and Regional Programs, noted that the company recognizes the principle of Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) of indigenous peoples and that this principle is spelled out in its policy and Nornickel puts it into practice.
"We became the first company in Russia to receive FPIC for the resettlement of the village of Tukhard in the Arctic. Now about 700 people permanently live there, mostly belonging to the indigenous people of the Nenets," he said, noting that when clarifying the sanitary protection zones, it turned out that living in this territory was unsafe from the point of view of Russian legislation. It took about five months to conduct these negotiations with the population, he said further, saying that "at the same time, leading international experts were invited so that, on the one hand, they fixed that our process and how we organize FPIC complies with all international requirements, and on the other hand, that they advise indigenous peoples in that part of their rights and opportunities that this procedure gives them."
According to Vasily Zakharov, Norilsk Nickel confirmed its adherence to the FPIC procedure and principle also on the example of the Kolmozerskoye lithium deposit in the Murmansk region.
Aleksey Tsykarev, Deputy Chairman of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, noted that the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent is an important international principle, which is reflected in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other international standards.
"Recently, the 22nd session of the Permanent Forum took place at the UN Headquarters in New York, where the participants discussed, among other things, the interaction between business and indigenous peoples, and they talked about the fact that companies should stop considering indigenous peoples as stakeholders and instead recognize that they have collective rights and treat them as rights holders," he said.
“It is gratifying that Norilsk Nickel takes into account these recommendations that are heard on international platforms, and FPIC is indeed becoming part of the company's corporate culture,” Tsykarev emphasized.
Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biology, Professor Mikhail Gladyshev, who took part in the discussion of the results of Norilsk Nickel's work in the field of sustainable development, noted that the company's interests are not aimed at extracting momentary benefits, but at truly sustainable environmentally friendly management.
"Such nature management requires fundamental scientific knowledge and advanced scientific research. And the organization of a large scientific expedition to study biodiversity, unprecedented in its geographic scale and complexity, and the company's appeal to the country's highest scientific authority, that is, directly to the Academy of Sciences, just demonstrates the seriousness of intentions," he stressed.
Mikhail Gladyshev also urged to pay attention to the fact that the company attaches great importance to the elimination of accumulated harm since the 1950s. In his opinion, without the restoration of both the soil cover and lakes, flora and fauna, one cannot speak of any kind of sustainable development.
"Here all these elements are present, and they are present just on a good scientific basis, so the interaction between the real sector of the economy represented by the company and fundamental science represented by the Russian Academy of Sciences, in my opinion, will give a completely positive and sustainable effect," Professor Gladyshev said.
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