<p>Environmentally friendly anticorrosion pigments for paint coatings based on the natural montmorillonite mineral modified with zinc cations and phosphate anions were obtained by two-stage liquid phase ion exchange. Corrosion resistance of steel increases in the acid rain environment with the addition of modified Zn/Р-montmorillonite using the potentiodynamic polarization method. The inhibiting efficiency of Zn/Р-montmorillonites depends on the modification, namely, the concentration of the Na₃PO₄ solution, and increases in the order: 0.005 M &lt; 0.5 M &lt; 0.05 M. The modified montmorillonite was introduced into an epoxy coating on steel. The 20 wt% content of Zn/Р-montmorillonite increases almost 6&#xa0;times the protective properties of the coating, which is confirmed by the results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This is associated with an improvement of barrier properties and the formation of a&#xa0;protective film based on zinc hydroxides and iron phosphates in defects of the epoxy coating on the steel surface.</p>