On September 11, residents of the village of Novikbozh came out with posters against an oil field's development by the LUKOIL-Komi Company. They are afraid that the works will harm the environment: in 2021, there already was a major oil spill caused by the organization. The Komi State Council's deputy Ekaterina Dyachkova reported about the residents’ picket.
Residents of the village of Novikbozh stood up with posters "LUKOIL — stop!", "We want to live, not survive", "The forest is our traditions and our life", etc. This is how they spoke out against the Prokhorovsky Oil Field’s development. The residents are afraid that a large amount of hydrogen sulfide from oil can go towards the village and harm the local nature.
40 people took part in the picket. The local administration’s employees and the police also attended the event.
The LUKOIL-Komi Company is engaged in the oil well’s development. At the end of May, residents of the village of Novikbozh unanimously spoke out against the works at a meeting with officials from the administration of Usinsk and the organization's representatives. The company’s CEO responded that LUKOIL-Komi would not employ local people and develop infrastructure.
On October 17, 2020, the Save Pechora Committee reported an accident at an inactive oil pipeline of the Kharyaginsky Oil Field. The LUKOIL-Komi Company, which includes LUKOIL-Severneftegaz, informed the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations about the 0.9-cubic-meter spill at the field. 15 hours later, the administration of the city of Usinsk in the north-east of the Komi Republic imposed a municipal-level emergency mode due to the spill of petroleum products into the Kolva River, which is located on the border with the NAO. The Investigating Committee’s Directorate for Arkhangelsk Oblast and the NAO opened a criminal case under the article on violation of the rules for environmental protection during the performance of works (Article 246 of the Criminal Code) on the incident.
There was a second oil spill in Kolva on May 11, 2021. The Head of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug Yuri Bezdudny said that the oil gathering main of one of the Oshsky Oil Field’s wells had been the source of pollution. The Head of Usinsk in Komi Nikolai Takaev imposed an emergency mode in the city. After that, LUKOIL-Komi voluntarily paid more than 130 million rubles for river pollution.
