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Environmental Policy

All of Acron Group’s companies have been dedicated to the highest standards of industrial and environmental safety. The Group recognises its social responsibility to protect the environment and use resources sustainably. The Group’s priority is to maximise environmental safety at its production facilities and minimise human impact on the environment.

The Group implements its environment policy in three major areas

• water protection
• air protection
• mitigating the environmental impact of industrial waste

The general principles underlying the Group’s environmental policy are

• reducing pollution
• improving the environmental safety of our production facilities and operations through improved reliability of manufacturing equipment
• gradually mitigating adverse industrial impact on the environment by conserving resources
• providing transparent and accessible data on the Group’s environmental impact and protection activities

The Group invests significant funds in environmentally friendly technologies and measures to mitigate adverse environmental impact. Government agencies and NGOs carry out environmental monitoring of operations at the Group’s facilities, and the Group endeavours to protect the environment at its sites and within the sanitary protection zone.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has praised the Group highly for its environmental efforts, stating that the company’s excellent production levels and financial performance are related to consistent improvement in its environmental management. In the 2007 competition for the Fourth EcoWorld National Environmental Award, Acron earned a 3rd degree nomination in Environmental Education and Training for its successful project entitled Environmental Safety and Sustained Development in Russia.

Environmental Safety in Mining Projects

The Group adheres strictly to environmental regulations with regard to construction of the mine at the Oleniy Ruchey phosphate deposit. The environmental section of the mine construction design elaborated by Federal State Enterprise All-Russian Research Institute of the Environment, successfully passed state expert review. Under its licence agreement on the terms and conditions of subsoil use for phosphates mining at the Oleniy Ruchey deposit, the Group has instituted an environmental monitoring programme for 2009–2026 in the licence area of the deposit, within the plot allocated for the mine facilities, and in the affected area. The programme was approved by the Subsoil Resources Management Agency in Murmansk region.

As part of the programme, the Group designed a project to establish a surveillance network and monitor surface and subsoil water in the area of NWPC’s operations in 2009–2010. The project aims at providing a qualitative assessment of surface and subsoil water, forecasting the degree of geological environment alterations, and making recommendations on prevention or mitigation of adverse effects caused by economic activity.