23:13, 31 March 2026

712 million rubles allocated to clean up the fuel oil spill in Kuban

The Russian government will allocate 712 million rubles from the reserve fund to Rosmorrechflot for emergency response to the oil spill following the tanker disaster in the Kerch Strait.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia stated that refilling the beaches with new sand should be completed by the start of the beach season. He added that if the work goes according to plan, the beaches will be open by June 1.

By June 1, new sand will appear on all sandy beaches in Anapa, as the government commission for the oil spill response has recognized this as an effective solution. Water and soil samples at the pebble beaches meet standards, and they are being prepared for reopening, the governor of Kuban stated. The quality of the sand delivered to the Anapa beach is questionable; it is construction sand with clay admixtures, the ecologist pointed out, noting that this could cause long-term damage to the beaches. Users believe that the goal of reopening the beaches will be achieved, regardless of the environmental damage. Quarry sand will not solve the problem of fuel oil emissions, but will only temporarily conceal the pollution on Anapa's beaches, environmentalists and activists have pointed out.

The Russian government is allocating an additional 712 million rubles to clean up the aftermath of the fuel oil spill in the Black Sea, Kommersant reported today.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's order to allocate funds from the reserve fund was published on the legal information portal. According to the document, the funds will be used to monitor aquatic pollution by oil products, localize and eliminate pollution, and survey sunken ship fragments and cofferdams to identify potential leak locations.

Rosmorrechflot has been instructed to monitor the expenditure of funds and the effectiveness of budget allocations and submit a report to the government by February 1, 2027, RBK notes.

In February 2026, the Cabinet of Ministers already allocated 5.8 billion rubles to Rosmorrechflot for work to localize emergency zones at the sites of tanker sinkings and subsequently prepare for their recovery from the bottom of the Black Sea. By June 2025, 9.9 billion rubles were allocated from the government's reserve fund to raise two tankers carrying fuel oil that sank off the coast of the Krasnodar Territory.

The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that in February 2026, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Krasnodar Territory assessed the damage to wildlife following the tanker accident in the Kerch Strait at 34.22 billion rubles.

On December 15, 2024, two tankers carrying fuel oil sank in the Kerch Strait. A crew member of one of the tankers died as a result. Additionally, an oil spill occurred, leading to catastrophic environmental consequences, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Fuel Oil Spill in the Kerch Strait".

Materials on the consequences of the fuel oil spill have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the page "Eco-disaster in Kuban".

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/422066