Mining giant Norilsk Nickel on Wednesday said it was contesting a fine imposed by the Russian authorities over a massive oil spill in the Arctic that sparked a state of emergency.

Norilsk Nickel "disputes the amount of environmental damage caused by the diesel leak" calculated by the Russian environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, the company said in a statement. 

The watchdog this week requested a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel pay "voluntary compensation" totaling 147.8 billion rubles ($2.05 billion), or one third of the group's net profit in 2019. 

AFP