UrBC, Magnitogorsk, January 18, 2019. Chair of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Board of Directors Viktor Rashnikov made a public announcement relating to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to re-house all the home owners in the apartment building in Magnitogorsk that got devastated by a an explosion.

‘Within hours of the tragedy in Magnitogorsk on December 31, MMK joined the rescue forces and emergency teams. Over a hundred employees and special-purpose vehicles operated on the site 24/7. The company has also allocated some RUB 100 million to support the victims directly and through the special donations account set up by Chelyabinsk Region Government. We support the Russian President Vladimir V. Putin’s proposal on helping the explosion victims/home owners in the entire building get new housing. MMK is willing to co-finance this,’ the company’s press service quotes Viktor Rashnikov as stating.

Now Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Boris Dubrovsky on January 16 to make sure that people in the entire apartment building devastated by an explosion in December get re-housed. According to the President, this would cost around RUB 1.3 billion.

A section of the ten-storey building in Magnitogorsk collapsed due to a gas leak on December 31, 2018. 39 people’s bodies were found under the ruins.