[Summary translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Centre]

Violations of environmental legislation identified at VGOK, 11 December 2025

The Nizhny Tagil environmental prosecutor’s office inspected the Vysokogorsky Mining and Processing Plant (VGOK) and identified a number of violations related to the protection of atmospheric air.

According to the regional prosecutor’s office, supervisory inspections found that, in violation of federal legislation, the company carried out emissions that did not correspond to the sources listed in its emissions inventory report. Information in the software system used to record facilities with a negative environmental impact had not been updated, including data on emission sources, pollutants, and their quantities. In addition, sampling locations for industrial emissions at two sources did not comply with GOST standards, and emissions were not properly treated in accordance with technical documentation.

As a result of the identified violations, the prosecutor’s office filed a lawsuit, and the court ordered the company to remedy the breaches. VGOK subsequently updated its emissions inventory report, entered current data into its environmental accounting system, relocated sampling points to meet regulatory requirements, and modernized its dust and gas cleaning equipment.