MOSCOW, May 17 (RAPSI) - Norilsk Nickel has filed an appeal with the Krasnoyarsk Territorial Commercial Court stating that it was wrongfully accused of failing to pay 1.4 billion rubles ($44.56 million) in environmental taxes, the court told RAPSI on Friday.

As a user of Russia's natural resources, Norilsk Nickel is obliged to pay a tax on the adverse impact on the environment - a levy regularly adjusted for the amount the company spends on nature-conservation programs.

The company applied to the Federal Service for the Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) for the package of documents required for the tax adjustment for 2014. However, instead of issuing a certificate stating that the company had no overdue impact liability, the regulator informed Norilsk that it owed 1.4 billion rubles for its impact on the environment.

Norilsk Nickel believes that the amount was unlawfully qualified as debt while they believe that in reality it is the amount the company invested in its nature conservation programs which needs to be deducted from its impact tax liability.

In February, the court ruled in favor of Norilsk Nickel which appealed another impact tax debt of 585 million rubles ($18.6 million) for 2012.

The court confirmed Norilsk Nickel's legitimacy in using the right to adjust its impact tax liability and agreed that the company had paid its 2012 liability in full, Norilsk Nickel reported.