Russian Ministry of Transport: Rosneft Tankers Involved in Black Sea Oil Spill

The Russian Ministry of Transport confirmed that the oil spill in the Kerch Strait involved fuel oil owned by Rosneft, and the environmental damage could exceed insurance payouts by many times over, reports NewsBox.

The Russian Ministry of Transport has officially acknowledged that the fuel oil, which contaminated the waters of the Black Sea, belonged to Rosneft. This was reported by State Duma deputy Alexei Kurinny, citing a response from the ministry.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the petroleum products transported by the tankers 'Volgoneft-212' and 'Volgoneft-239' were owned by Rosneft, which acted as the owner, consignor, and consignee of the cargo. However, the documents do not specify who owned the tankers themselves.

Kurinny stated that the oil spill should prompt a parliamentary investigation. In his opinion, the ecological damage might far exceed the insurance payouts. According to the Ministry of Transport's official response, the transportation of petroleum products was insured by 'Absolute Insurance' and 'VSK' with a liability limit of 3 billion rubles, but the actual damage could be significantly higher.