Andrey Grachev, Vice President of Norilsk Nickel, speaks about the main principles of the interaction with the indigenous peoples of the Far North
By Boris Kumyshev
(rg.ru) - Recently, many global companies have tried - and now some Russian companies are trying - to be guided by the principles of ESG practices, which include the constructive interaction with the indigenous peoples (ESG is a set of criteria to assess the environmental and social responsibility as well as the corporate governance of a business - ed.). Is Norilsk Nickel involved in the new trend?
Andrey Grachev: For Norilsk Nickel, these principles are not a tribute paid to today’s trends. We did not start to adhere to them today or yesterday but we have been developing our relations with the indigenous peoples of the North for more than 80 years, since the beginning of the smelter’s operation. We were always interested in their needs, helped and supported them. We lived and keep on living together.
Taimyr is a huge area covering 880 thousand square kilometers, which is equal to two and a half Germany’s areas, it is an indigenous community’s homeland and the area for the traditional use of natural resources by 10,000 indigenous people and five indigenous ethnic groups - the Dolgans, Nenets, Enets, Nganasans and Evenks.
We consider it our duty to provide help and support in preserving the traditional way of life, and we build our relations with the indigenous community on the principles of good-neighborly relations and constant dialogue. It is impossible to understand the needs of this region and the indigenous people while sitting in European and Moscow offices thousands of kilometers away from these places. There is a great risk of having a stereotypical, traditional formulaic perception like “there exists an indigenous community and there is an industry that conflicts with the locals”.
You seem to look on the bright side of everything. But there was a fuel spill last year. The community lands have been affected.
Andrey Grachev: As soon as the accident occurred, Norilsk Nickel proactively raised the issue of compensation. The calculation of the size of the potential - we underline, the potential - losses caused to the indigenous peoples of the North due to the diesel oil spill at Thermal Power Plant (TPP)-3 of the Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company (NTEC) was carried out within the framework of an ethnological expert examination organized by the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East and the Arctic Development Project Office (ADPO).
Within the framework of the ethnological expert examination, 58 communities of indigenous minorities of the North (IMN), fishing in Lake Pyasino and the Pyasina River, were identified to get the compensation for possible damage to the traditional use of nature. It should be emphasized that the decision on the lists of those who should get the compensations was made by the indigenous people. And some communities have not been included in the lists after being checked by their colleagues and members of the communities.
When assessing the impact on the original habitat of the indigenous minorities of the North, the experts relied on the methods worked out by the Ministry of Economic Development of the RF. For the projected estimates, the methods of system analysis were used including a mathematical model for calculating the maximum possible spread of diesel fuel that was developed by the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (SkolTech), and the damage was calculated for 5 years. Moreover, with an increase in the number of communities laying claims to get the compensation, we did not divide the total amount of the calculated damage into an increasing number of claimants but fixed it at the level of 250,000 rubles per person.
It should be noted that for the first time, the ethnological expert examination was carried out to assess not the planned economic activity, but the potential impact of the environmental pollution on the traditional use of natural resources by the indigenous peoples of the North. Thus, Norilsk Nickel is introducing a new practice in the Russian Arctic and setting new standards of relations with local communities.
For the moment, the compensation payments in the amount of more than 190 mn rubles have been transferred to the settlement accounts of the indigenous minorities of the North.
Is this compensation the declared program of support to the indigenous peoples?
Andrey Grachev: Not at all! Its levels and amount of aid and its content are completely different. The compensations are one-off payments, and the program to promote the development of the indigenous minorities of Taimyr is a long-term project.
In 2020, at the initiative of the RF Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia, and Far East and the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Taimyr, an ethnological expert examination of the factors of the sustainable development of the indigenous peoples began. The Arctic Development Project Office (ADPO) did the organizational work at the first stage. Based on the results of the ethnological expert examination, Norilsk Nickel, together with the indigenous minorities of the North and on the basis of their proposals, developed a program for the support and development of the indigenous minorities of Taimyr with an emphasis on the settlements of Ust-Avam and Volochanka that are historically underdeveloped ones.
The program of help and development of the indigenous minorities of the North includes more than 40 measures to improve the quality of life in the settlements and to develop the communities’ crafts including the construction of 18 residential houses and the houses of culture in Ust-Avam and Volochanka within three years, the acquisition of fish and venison processing workshop equipment, freezers, the equipment for fur dressing and souvenir manufacturing, the study and registration of fish resources of the Pyasina River water bodies and the providing the quotas to the communities, as well as the creation of a tourist visitor center in Ust-Avam. A project of particular complexity and importance from the point of view of preserving the original culture of the indigenous peoples of Taimyr is the restoration of the lost domestic reindeer husbandry in the Avam tundra.
All these projects are not just lines in the Company’s budget, but joint activities that can be effectively carried out only in close contact with the communities and families of the indigenous minorities of the North.
The projects for the development and support of social initiatives are also envisaged and the Company is implementing a grant project “World of Taimyr”. Largely, it is innovative in its essence and management.
The program is designed for 5 years. About 2 bn rubles are provided for its financing. Our program is beyond comparison in Russia in terms of funding, coverage of the spheres of life and economic activity of the indigenous peoples, and, most importantly, the quality of the support provided.
How is this serious project managed?
Andrey Grachev: Norilsk Nickel maintains a direct and constant dialogue with the indigenous peoples of the North, together with the leaders of the indigenous minorities’ communities of the North, develops the programs for the development of the traditional use of nature and the preservation of the original culture. I would like to emphasize - we do this together!
This principle is taken as the basis for the implementation of the program. A department for work with indigenous minorities of the North has been set up, headed by a lady representative of the indigenous people. At the suggestion of the community members, the Coordinating Council of the Indigenous Minorities of the North was established under the head of the Norilsk Division of the Company. The chairmen of 58 communities and families of the indigenous minorities of the North, representatives of regional and municipal authorities have been invited to take part in it. On August 6 this year, a regular meeting was held, at which, by the way, an additional 100 mn rubles were allocated, including for preparing the communities for the winter season.
That is, the finances are distributed jointly?
Andrey Grachev: And not only the finances. One cannot measure everything in money. Especially, in human relations. Especially, in the Arctic. An important joint initiative of the Company and the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs is the School of Public Diplomacy at the MGIMO. The representatives of the indigenous peoples can learn to interact with government authorities and industrial companies, promote their interests for the purpose of the economic development of the traditional use of nature and crafts, tourism development, and represent Russia in the international arena. Twenty children from the indigenous minorities of the North study annually at the expense of the Company at the Norilsk State Industrial Institute.
The creation of the Enets written language and grammar by the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Taimyr and the Siberian Federal University with the support of Norilsk Nickel, and the ABC-book already published is a significant contribution to the preservation of the ancient cultures of Taimyr. Can this be measured in money only?
If there is a language, there exists a nationality. And for Norilsk Nickel, it is important to work for the purpose of its preservation and development. There is no other way in the Arctic.
Why, then, does Norilsk Nickel periodically become the object of criticism of members of various public organizations and human rights activists?
Andrey Grachev: First of all, we are becoming objects of criticism abroad. At home, in the Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets District, the attitude towards Norilsk Nickel is changing significantly as our five-year program is being implemented. In Switzerland, Germany, and the United States, the perception of our policy relating to the indigenous minorities of the North has not changed much yet. And the situation with the coronavirus does not allow us to invite human rights and other activists now so that they could get acquainted with the real situation in Taimyr, to show our projects aimed at our interaction with the indigenous communities and in the field of ecology.
On the other hand, a lot has changed over the past few years in the best practices for the interaction between the global companies and the indigenous peoples. Norilsk Nickel is in line with this process. And, maybe, the Company even sets new trends.
I absolutely agree with Andrey Golovnev, Director of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who believes that the industrial giants should take the indigenous peoples “not just as those who need to be patted on the back and given subsidies from time to time, but as real partners”. In his opinion, Norilsk Nickel is now “on the track in this direction and is participating in generating the future strategy of ethnocultural policy”.
Does Norilsk Nickel limit its support to the indigenous peoples to the Taimyr Peninsula only?
Andrey Grachev: Of course, we don’t. On June 5, within the framework of SPIEF-2021, Norilsk Nickel and the Kola Sami Association signed the Agreement on Interaction and Cooperation. The document assumes support from the Company for the projects related to the preservation and development of the Sami language, culture, and traditional economic activities of the indigenous peoples of the Murmansk Region.
In 2019, Norilsk Nickel supported the publication of the Almanac of Sami Literature and helped to build a memorial dedicated to the feat of the soldiers of the Sami reindeer transport battalions - the defenders of the Soviet Arctic.
It is important for us that within the framework of the current agreement, the programs to support the Sami language and literature are envisaged already this year.
Although Norilsk Nickel does not develop the lands of traditional use of nature belonging to the indigenous minorities of the North, the Company implements the environmental, charity and social projects aimed at preserving their culture, developing a traditional way of life and crafts in the regions where the Company operates. Our relations are systemic, trusting and our attitude is protective.
Probably, all of our policies and practices in relation to the indigenous peoples can be characterized by an absolutely right Dolgan proverb saying that tea is stronger if it is shared with a good friend.
