Russia: Court rejects watchdog's suit against Ochakovo Brewery

The Moscow Arbitration Court rejected a suit filed by Russian natural resources watchdog Rosprirodnadzor against Moscow's Ochakovo Brewery regarding environmental violations, the court told Interfax, October 15.

Rosprirodnadzor had asked the court to levy 2.75 million rubles in fines against Ochakovo for environmental damage the watchdog claimed the brewery had caused to a local river.

An Ochakovo spokesman said the brewery did not cause any environmental damages. In addition, the spokesman said Rosprirodnadzor violated instructions in the process of collecting water samples of the alleged violations. The plant's purifying facilities were in working order on July 4, the day when the violations took place, the spokesman said. Ochakovo has agreements in place with an organization that takes water samples and carries out analyses, the spokesman said.

A representative of the Moscow Water Draining Service said at the hearing that Ochakovo was indeed responsible for the pollution. The purifying facilities were not operating at the time, according to a report signed by specialists, including from the brewery, the representative said.

Rosprirodnadzor inspectors and representatives of the Moscow Department for the Use of Nature and Environmental Protection discovered excessive industrial discharges in a Moscow River tributary on July 4. An analysis indicated that the discharges came from the Ochakovo Brewery. The environmental watchdog suspended the company's activities for five days on July 5 due to violations of environmental protection laws. The service estimated the damage at 2.7 million rubles.

The brewery, however, disagreed with the complaints and arranged its own investigation involving environmental specialists. The brewery's inspectors concluded that the level of pollution in the river did not exceed the norm. Ochakovo also challenged the service's decision to suspend the brewery's operations for five days.

The Ninth Arbitration Appeals Court on October 11 upheld a ruling handed down on August 1 by the Moscow Arbitration Court, which declared Rosprirodnadzor illegally suspended the brewery's operations.

Moscow's Ochakovo Brewery was established in 1978 and issued stock in 1993. It is one of Russia's six largest breweries.