‘Following the tragic accident at Raspadskaya mine in Kemerov Region, Sverdlovsk Region’s public prosecution authorities, the State Labor Inspectorate’s local division, and the regional division of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental, technological, and nuclear safety watchdog) checked the local mining enterprises for compliance with the safety regulations. The inspections resulted in finding numerous instances of legal offenses,’ Prosecutor of Sverdlovsk Region’s public prosecution authorities department of surveillance over law-compliance in the fields of the environment, transportation, and defense Nikolai Prischepa said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg.

‘The labor protection authorities carried out four inspections of Vysokogorskiy Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise (VGOK), found twenty-four violations of the labor safety regulations, and made two executives face disciplinary liability. They also inspected Bogoslovskiy ore administration, found seven violations of the labor safety regulations, and made one executive face disciplinary liability. UC RUSAL’s Severouralsk bauxite mine (SUBR) was also inspected eight times; twenty-four violations were detected, and fourteen administrative fines are to be paid. Also, the inspectors checked Berezovskiy ore administration three times, found twenty violations of the labor safety regulations, and made six executives face disciplinary liability. Eleven mines have actually been checked altogether,’ says Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region’s State Labor Inspectorate Valeriy Morozov.