FPIC in Tukhard - a unique application of international practice

The third round of consultations on the resettlement and settlement development program took place in Tukhard. The residents of the village and Norilsk Nickel signed an agreement on FPIC - Free, Prior And Informed Consent. This is the first such experience in Russia.
The FPIC procedure will become a guarantor of respect for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Taimyr. It is not directly included in the legislation of the Russian Federation, and Norilsk Nickel voluntarily recognizes international standards and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Last October, Norilsk Nickel proposed several options for settling the village, for example, moving people to new houses in Dudinka, Novy Tukhard or other villages on the peninsula. Now Tukhard, founded in the 1970s for the builders of Norilskgazprom, is located in the sanitary protection zone of the production enterprise, but permanent residence in such zones is prohibited. Also, initially the development of the village did not provide for the creation of modern comfortable houses and comfortable infrastructure. Last November, within the framework of the second round, the involved parties discussed the consent of the Tukhard inhabitants and tundra reindeer herders to the procedure for obtaining FPIC, and a council of Tukhard representatives was formed. The Council coordinated all negotiations and discussions both within the population and with Norilsk Nickel.
During the third round, questions were raised about the resettlement program, including the location of the new village and its infrastructure, and about giving the FPIC of the Tukhard people to the resettlement and village development program. The meeting unanimously voted for participation in the program, after which the Council of Representatives of the village on behalf of the residents and Mark Shilykovsky, General Director of Norilsktransgaz JSC signed the agreement. The document sets out the conditions for resettlement and compensation, the company's obligations to the residents of the village, the need to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the resettlement program, and the participation of the Council of Representatives at all stages of its implementation. At the meeting, the wishes of the residents regarding the infrastructure of the new village were also recorded.
Russian and international experts participated in all stages of the FPIC procedure. Among them is Alexei Tsykarev, Deputy Chairman of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. “We have completed the theoretical part and are starting the practical part, the parties, in cooperation with each other, will prepare a detailed development and resettlement program. We decided on the place of resettlement, this process was the most difficult, because there were different opinions. The agreement spells out the need to create an independent monitoring group, which could include Russian and international experts,” he said about the results of the third round.
Indigenous Peoples rights lawyer Mikhail Todyshev stressed that Norilsk Nickel’s decision to carry out resettlement in accordance with international standards was a first case for Russia: “This is important, and we see that residents are well aware of what decisions they make. And the practice that we have acquired here, in Taimyr, thanks to the decision of Norilsk Nickel, will have far-reaching consequences. It is necessary to amend the federal legislation and recognize the principle of FPIC.”
Andrey Grachev, Vice President for Federal and Regional Programs of Norilsk Nickel, also noted the importance of the Tukhard procedure and its uniqueness for the Russian Arctic: “There is a lot of work ahead to coordinate all the architectural and infrastructural solutions of the new settlement and the construction itself.”
“Today, a new settlement was born in our heads. This is a life improvement in every aspect. Today, children from Tukhard mostly study in Dudinka, in the future they will have the opportunity to study at the local school and live with their parents, and not just come on vacation. There will also be a modern House of Culture, and workshops for processing reindeer products will create new jobs. Separately, it is worth mentioning the reindeer herders. They live in the tundra, but over time, people have a need to move to the village - for health reasons, because of age and for other reasons. Therefore, houses for reindeer herders are needed in the new village,” said Grigory Dyukarev, Chairman of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Taimyr, Krasnoyarsk Territory, sharing the details of the development program.
Consultations on the choice of architectural solutions for the new village will begin this year, and construction is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

Vladimir Malakhov, Rough&Polished