A special commission, led by Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor), arrived in the region Thursday to conduct an investigation at LUKoil's production sites.
"A commission, headed by Oleg Mitvol established October 13 that there are serious infringements of environmental protection legislation at deposits owned by LUKoil," the Natural Resources Ministry said in a statement.
The commission, accompanied by Greenpeace representatives, met with locals in the Usinsk area, who said the number of people who have fallen ill allegedly due to LUKoil's activities in the region has significantly increased, and the Kolva river, flowing through the region, is polluted with oil products.
The ministry said it has launched administrative proceedings to determine the source of the pollution.
The ministry said earlier Friday it proposed revoking a number of LUKoil licenses in two regions in Western Siberia.
"Based on the results of the inspections in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, the Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources adopted a decision to demand the revocation of production licenses issued to two LUKoil subsidiaries, Khantymansiiskneftegasgeologiya and Nazymgeodobycha," the ministry said.
Rosprirodnadzor has already submitted documents to the Natural Resources Ministry demanding the revocation of eight LUKoil's production licenses.
The ministry decided to set a three- to six-month deadline for LUKoil to deal with violations or face license revocation.
The environmental protection agency is also considering the revocation of a number of LUKoil's licenses for the surveying and production of hydrocarbons at 11 oil extraction sites in the Komi Republic.
The inspection team discovered that the company did not comply with oil production licensing agreements and requirements for developing oil extraction sites. The environmental watchdog also demanded that LUKoil deal with uncovered violations, and has set a deadline beyond which the licenses will be revoked, the ministry said in a statement.
The Natural Resources Ministry has revoked 80 licenses on various business activities in Russia since the beginning of 2006.
