Press Releases

Verkhnekamsk Potash Company held public hearings to discuss the environmental impact assessment for the Talitsky mining and processing complex.

On November 26, 2012, in Berezniki (Perm Krai), VPC held the final round of public hearings about construction of the Talitsky mining and processing complex on land near Berezniki and the project’s environmental impact assessment.

Deputy Mayor of Berezniki Aleksey Yakin noted in his opening speech that public involvement in the project is beneficial for all participants and for the city as a whole. It is necessary to consider all the economic, social and environmental consequences of the planned activities.

Deputy General Director of VPC Vyacheslav Yanin informed the meeting about the Company’s activities and goals. In 2008, VPC won the auction for development of the Talitsky area of the Verkhnekamsk potassium-magnessium salt deposit and obtained a license for construction of a mining and processing complex with a design capacity of 2 million tonnes of potassium chloride per year by 2018. Since 2008, the Company has completed a formidable volume of geological prospecting and scientific work for the project, received positive expert findings, analysed background environmental conditions, chosen an optimal layout for the construction site, saline dump, slurry pit and developed plans for development, mining and processing. To minimise environmental impact, VPC performed a multi-factor analysis and chose the best location suitable for the site.
Representative of general contractor Belgorkhimprom Anatoly Bakunovich informed the meeting of his company’s planned activities. Development of the mineral deposit requires construction of a new factory for production of potash fertilizer. The Talitsky MPC will include an underground mine, processing factory and auxiliary facilities and will employ the latest technologies and equipment available in Russia and worldwide. Bakunovich assessed the current state of the environment (air, land resources, hydrogeological and soil conditions) and described the project’s potential environmental impact, as well as environmental protection methods and a proposed environmental monitoring system.

The meeting was informed about the results of the evaluation of environmental conditions, the current ecological status, design solutions and projected impact. The research indicates that construction of the complex will not negatively impact the local environment.

Tatiana Likhareva, head of VPC’s environmental protection and land management department, provided more detail on the current state of the environment and the system of environmental monitoring developed for real-time threat detection. Likhareva assured the meeting that compliance with established environmental safety precautions will minimize environmental impact.

The organizing committee drew up a protocol based on the hearings' result. According to the protocol, VPC has taken into consideration all aspects of environmental impact assessment and carried out additional studies of possible environmental impact. The hearings showed that there are no environmental barriers for implementation of the project.