Indigenous Peoples of Taimyr and Industry: Project-Based Collaboration

Major mining and oil companies (MMC Norilsk Nickel, OC Rosneft) are not sole actors in the development of Taimyr and its resources; wild reindeer hunters, reindeer herders, and fishermen (the Dolgans, the Nenets, the Ents, the Nganasans, and the Evenks) are also actively involved in the process. Nornickel has always invested in the Taimyr region – both when it was known as the “integrated works” (as it is still called by the local population) and when it became a “master” (a joint-stock company and a world-famous industrial giant). It offers a significant package of projects to support the indigenous peoples of Taimyr: from the construction of new villages to sponsorship of local ethnic festivals, from the support of family communities to offering various grants to students in different educational establishments. Following a high-profile accident at CHP‑3 in May 2020, “support for indigenous people” was added as a separate point to the company’s development strategy. The main instrument for the company’s interaction with the indigenous peoples is the “Agreement on Cooperation with the Federal, Regional and Local Associations of Indigenous Peoples” signed on September 25, 2020 in Moscow. The company’s aim is a constructive dialogue and building partnerships in accordance with the international standards. Since the 2000s, oil and gas companies have been actively increasing their presence on the Taimyr Peninsula. The beginning of oil and gas fields development contributed to the aggravation of land resource management problems, including pastures, water areas, and landscape zones of local communities. The oil and gas companies’ policy and their methods of communication with the indigenous population do not always meet the expectations of the latter. The dialogue is not maintained easily. While criticizing the subsoil resource managers and the local authorities, the indigenous peoples organisations invite them to build relations based on “cooperation on equal terms.”