The mines of the Krasnoyarsk magnate Alexei Guryanov have become a real curse for the Siberian taiga
The beautiful landscapes of Krasnoyarsk Territory are being ruined by the Sibzoloto holding, despite local protests and the prosecutor's office's orders. Even a tragic accident that took the lives of 24 people at one of the mines did not seem to change anything.
Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov ordered additional inspections of gold mining activities in several regions of the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East following numerous appeals from locals, the public, and environmental organizations.
The terrible tragedy at a gold mine in the Krasnoyarsk Territory from three years ago is especially relevant.
In the remote taiga, a tragic incident occurred where a cascade of dams built by the Sisim gold mining company was washed away by the Seiba river, causing the loss of workers' barracks. The company was fined for the environmental damage caused. The owner, Alexei Guryanov, and other co-founders disputed the amount but eventually had to pay after intervention by bailiffs.
In comparison, the Usolekhimprom enterprise in the Irkutsk region was fined 1.3 billion rubles for improper storage of hazardous substances and establishing a landfill in the tundra instead of disposing of industrial waste.
After the accident at the city CHP – 3, “Norilsk Nickel” was fined 58.65 billion rubles for the damage caused to Lake Pyasino and the rivers Dyldykan and Ambarnaya, in addition to 145.4 billion rubles paid in fines for environmental damage.
It's surprising how the Krasnoyarsk court system seems lenient towards the behavior of the gold miners, considering the impact on the Siberian taiga and the lives of people in nearby villages and towns.
However, neither the authorities nor the environmental services respond to their anger and complaints. It appears that one tragedy at Sisim should be enough to permanently cancel the company’s license to mine gold. However, the license was only revoked for the area where human lives were harmed. The channels of other taiga rivers of the Yenisei basin LLC “Sisim” and other companies of Alexei Guryanov, continue to crush, turning them into muddy mud streams as if nothing had happened.
Based on the many violations of mining technology and disregard for environmental laws, it can be assumed that Aleksey Guryanov knows how to negotiate with the right people.
Last year, the gold miners of “Sisima” actually destroyed the lovely forest river Tuksha, once rich in lenok, grayling and other valuable commercial fish species.
This information was discovered during the audit of the Krasnoyarsk environmental prosecutor’s office, which was conducted together with experts from the Ministry of Ecology of the Territory and the Yenisei Department of the Federal Agency for Fishery. During the aerial survey, it was found that the reason for polluting the water body was the discharge of polluted effluents into the Tuksha River from a sump located at the site of Sisim LLC in the Sayansky region. It was also found that the company is mining alluvial gold without the consent of the Yenisei Territorial Administration of the Federal Agency for Fishery.
The dead waters of Tuksha, in turn, pollute the Kan River, where there are many villages and cities, and their inhabitants actively use its water and biological resources.
As a result of the audit, the regional prosecutor’s office prepared a submission on the ban on gold mining in the Mansky and Sayansky regions by Sisim LLC. However, even the request of the prosecutor’s office to halt gold mining had no effect on the Leninsky District Court of Krasnoyarsk. The court denied the requirement of environmental and law enforcement agencies to stop this disgrace. It was only in the appellate instance, the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court, that they agreed with the prosecutor’s arguments.
Concerns from environmentalists and the public have amassed not only to Sisim, but also to other gold mining companies that are part of the Sibzoloto holding, the main beneficiary of which is Alexei Guryanov.
Artels of prospectors “Khakassia” and “Angara-North” are also actively destroying Siberian forests and rivers in the south and north of “Yenisei Siberia”. However, local authorities are very lenient about this.
There are three cases under review by the Leninsky District Court regarding the lawsuit of the environmental prosecutor’s office against the Angara-Sever Mining Artel LLC.
In two cases, the supervisory authority demands the suspension of the enterprise’s activities until the necessary approval of the Federal Agency for Fishery for gold mining is obtained. In one case, the court has already granted the claim, and in the second case, as interim measures, it has imposed a ban on the performance of work until the court decision takes effect.
One of the leaders in the “Artel Prospectors” Khakassia “, according to the publication of RIA Novosti and the post in the “telegram channel” of the head of Rosprirodnadzor of Russia Svetlana Radionova, one of the leaders of the Artel Prospectors Khakassia LLC, is the father of the Minister of Property and Land Relations of Khakassia Evgeny Tarasov Boris Tarasov and this fact allows the “artels” to destroy the unique nature of the Sayans with impunity. Local residents complain that all their complaints and appeals remain unanswered.
The “golden empire” of businessman Alexei Guryanov is quite extensive – he is the beneficiary of 12 companies, including the Agat mining company, the exploration companies Ishimba LLC, Sirius LLC and Shaargan LLC, the Borey security company. Several LLCs are in liquidation or have already ceased to exist…
But Guryanov’s main asset is still Sisim LLC. The company, which wrote one of the most tragic pages in the history of Russian gold mining, continues to pursue profits, increasing volumes and assets.
The zeal of Alexei Guryanov is quite understandable. He is a loving father, and his daughter Natalia was educated in London and has long settled there. Life in “Foggy Albion” requires a lot of expenses, and she is used to living in a big way and not denying herself anything.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Sisim LLC was established in March 2005. Its director is still Maxim Kovalkov, who also owns a 20% stake. Among the owners are Sergey Kovalkov, Alexey Guryanov and Angara-Sever Artel Prospectors. At the time of the tragedy, Sisim was part of a division of the Sibzoloto holding, which is one of the largest gold mining companies in Russia.
