Damages from fuel oil spill from Russian tankers estimated at $14 billion

Currently, Ukraine continues to monitor the spread of the fuel oil spill, and no danger to the Odesa region has yet been recorded.

This was reported by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Svitlana Grinchuk.

According to her, there are currently no threats to the coast of the Odessa region. The coast of the Crimean peninsula has suffered the most from the consequences of the accident.

“Due to the cold weather, the spread of the spill is decreasing, now it looks more like clots, but the situation may change with warming. We are constantly monitoring, including using satellites,” Svitlana Grinchuk noted.

Weekly online meetings are also held for coordination with the environment ministers of Romania and Bulgaria. In particular, a meeting was held last week with the Turkish ambassador.

“At the meetings, we exchange data on the spill itself, how it moves, and what the possible damages are. According to preliminary calculations, the damages are already estimated at $14 billion,” the minister emphasized.

As a reminder, on December 15, two Russian tankers sinking in the Kerch Strait. The first to crash was the Volgoneft-212 tanker, which was carrying 4 tons of oil. An hour later, the Volgoneft-239 was hit by a storm.

The cause of the crash was a strong storm. One of the tankers was cut almost in half by the waves. As a result of the crashes, 4,300 tons of fuel oil and other petroleum products spilled into the sea.

As it turned out later, the fuel oil that spilled into the Black Sea as a result of the Russian tanker crash was intended for the Firn, a ship of the “shadow fleet.”