Editor’s Note: The following is a statement issued Aug. 4 by the press service of billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, owner of the Sukhodilska-Skhidna coal mine in Luhansk Oblast where 27 workers were killed in a July 29 methane gas explosion.
“Rinat Leonidovich personally controls the two most important issues:
“First, is the maximum support and help to the families of bereaved coal miners, help to the injured coal miner, who is currently at the hospital, help to every child in the families. Not a single problem will remain unattended. Mr. Akhmetov personally controls the financial aid to every family and all the needs that these families might have as the result of the awful tragedy.
“Second, no less important issue, that is under personal control of Mr. Akhmetov is the maximum possible outfitting Sukhodilska-Skhidna coal mine, and all the other coal mines that are part of the System Capital Management Group, with the most modern equipment, which provides for maximum safety. This work is being done constantly and doesn’t stop for a minute.
“Mr. Akhmetov perfectly realizes that the working conditions of coal extraction on Ukrainian mines are incredibly complicated. Ukrainian coal industry is characterized by incredible difficult mining and geological conditions: 90 percent of the beds are dangerous in terms of the gas, 60 percent – in terms of the coal dust, almost every fourth – prone to spontaneous combustion. Coal miners at around 35 Ukrainian coal mines extract coal more than one kilometer deep.
“That’s why investing into the most modern infrastructure and technology to ensure safe labor is the main task for the holdings’ managers. SCM constantly invests into coal mines’ modernization and labor safety. And will keep investing, to make coal miners’ work safe to the maximum!
“All profit that SCM incurred in 2010 ($464.5 million), according to the shareholder’s decision will be spent on the development and modernization of production. Last year, $99.7 million (62.6 percent higher than in 2009) were spent on labor protection and industrial safety.
“The task that Mr. Akhmetov gave the management and the implementation of which he controls personally – to make honorable coal miner’s work maximally safe.
“Currently, all the services are working on it today 24 hours a day.”
Read also ‘Deadly Greed’ and ‘Coal miner: People are expendable’
