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The diversity of microbial communities and potential functional activity in anaerobic processes of oil degradation of bottom sediments was determined in the area of the Bolshaya Zelenovskaya oil seepage site (lake Baikal). When microorganisms of subsurface and deep sediment were cultivated in enrichment cultures containing oil and various electron acceptors for one year at 10ºC, the concentration of n-alkanes decreased by 1.2–2 times, and PAHs by 2.2–2.8 times. The conversion of hydrocarbons was accompanied by the generation of hydrocarbon gases (methane, ethane). The microbial community of the subsurface sediment was characterized by greater bacterial diversity than that of the deep sediment and was represented by microorganisms specialized in the decomposition of a wide range of substrates, including petroleum hydrocarbons. The deep layers of sediment were dominated by Atribacterota, Caldisericota and Bathyarchaeia (Thermoproteota), as well as representatives of the “rare biosphere” Elusimicrobiota and Candidatus Hadarchaeota. Among the main participants in the degradation of oil in bottom sediments of the lake. Representatives of the phyla Bacillota, Pseudomonadota, Chloroflexota, Actinomycetota, Desulfobacterota, Atribacterota, Halobacteriota and Bathyarchaeia (Thermoproteota) can be classified as Baikal.