One of the ways aimed at solving the security problem in the coal industry is the nationalization of mines, their return to state ownership. For such a measure spoke out State Duma deputy from Kuzbass, Doctor of Economics Nikolai Novichkov. In the industry itself, this idea does not find support. State Duma Deputy and Doctor of Economics Nikolai Novichkov believes that the safety problems in coal mining, which lead to tragedies similar to what happened at the Listvyazhnaya mine, will not be solved unless the form of ownership in the coal industry is changed.

“If the industry oligarchs are not able to ensure the safety of miners, if the owners save on safety, then it is necessary to nationalize the mines. We in our party "Fair Russia - Patriots - For Truth" are extremely positive about the idea of ​​nationalizing the coal industry, "Novichkov said.

He clarified that he advocates the nationalization of the coal industry not only because of party discipline, but as a deputy elected, among other things, from Kuzbass (from the Kemerovo region), where Listvyazhnaya is located.

Also, the deputy considers the nationalization of mines to be justified, and as a Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Department of Theory and Management Systems of the RANEPA.

At the same time, the existing coal companies, their management, even after nationalization, may remain the management companies in the mines, says the deputy Novichkov.

“But the state will have to announce a competition for each mine, and teams of managers, mining specialists, can take part in the competition. The managers must prove that they can manage effectively and will not expose miners to unnecessary risks, ”Novichkov said.

But, according to the deputy, "it is hardly worth admitting to the tender those managers, in whose production biography there were obvious failures and tragic mistakes."

"Or is he just counting money?"

The accident at Listvyazhnaya took place on November 25th. On that day, there were 285 people in the mine, 239 of them were brought to the surface, 46 miners, and six rescuers were killed.

At a meeting on the safety of the coal industry, held on December 2, President Vladimir Putin announced that he was concealing the facts of excessive gas pollution of the mine with methane. "The results of the toxic gas sensors were falsified," the president said, referring to the materials of the Investigative Committee. The responsibility for the tragedy was assigned to the management of the holding.

The surviving miners later told reporters that the methane sensors in the mine were deliberately damaged so that work could continue. But the control bodies "did not notice" the massive failure of stationary sensors and personal devices.

Listvyazhnaya mine is part of the SDS-Ugol holding (SDS - Siberian Business Union), formed in Kuzbass in 2006: 50% of the holding's shares belong to SDS President Mikhail Fedyaev, and ex-State Duma deputy Vladimir Gridin owns 25% of the shares and his son Andrey Gridin.

In early December, while analyzing the causes of the tragedy, Fedyaev informed President Vladimir Putin of his readiness to be punished for the accident at the mine. Putin asked him about the observance of safety measures at the mine. "Mikhail Yuryevich Fedyaev, does the board of directors somehow monitor what is happening in the security sector, or does it just count money?" The president asked.

Fedyaev replied that his company did not economize on security equipment. But the human factor failed.

Gridin Sr. fled from Russia, perhaps he is now in Monaco, Izvestia reported on Monday, December 20, citing anonymous sources in the investigating authorities. All the ultimate beneficiaries of Listvyazhnaya have not yet been identified. In 2021, according to a source in the UK, the Gridins earned $ 132 million.

The Kemerovo court on December 15 arrested Fedyaev. He is accused of abuse of authority in a commercial organization, which entailed grave consequences (part 2 of article 201 of the Criminal Code), and top managers of the company are charged with violating the industrial safety requirements of hazardous production facilities, which inadvertently entailed the death of two or more persons (part 2 of Art. 3 article 217 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The defendants did not admit their guilt.

As in the days of the USSR

Deputy Novichkov is also confident that the state is capable of becoming an effective owner of the coal industry. “This is one of the mantras of the financial and economic bloc of the government, its liberal part, that the state is supposedly a bad owner. If we look at world practice, then the raw material companies - oil, coal - are both in the form of private property and state property, ”Novichkov explains.

In the Anglo-Saxon world (USA, Canada, Great Britain), it is true that private companies predominate in the primary industries. “As in Russia. But in the rest of the world, oil, gas, and coal companies are predominantly state-owned. For example, in Norway, in Saudi Arabia, ”adds Novichkov. The deputy believes that investment in security will grow if the state again, as in the days of the USSR, becomes the owner of the coal mines.

“Because investments in security can be regulated at the level of the rule of law. Introduce a norm to ensure that investments are made both in the repair of mines, and in the purchase of equipment, in safety technology. In the Soviet Union, this was all normalized, new mines were opened, and there were fewer accidents. If we take, for example, the 80s, we will not remember the tragedies of such a scale as at Listvyazhnaya, ”says Novichkov.

He disagrees with politicians who say there is only one way to solve the security problem in the coal industry. Close the mines like the British did: Britain's last coal mine ceased operations at the end of 2015. “Let's focus on a good experience. There are many examples of successfully and safely operating coal mines in the world. And there the state did not withdraw itself from solving the problem of safe production, ”Novichkov notes.

He believes the British have closed their mines, in part because "they were able to move this production to other countries." But this is not an option for Russia, the MP concludes.

After another explosion at the Voroshilov mine in Kemerovo, the chairman of the Russian independent trade union of coal workers, Ivan Mokhnachuk, in an interview with Echo Moskvy, named several reasons for the high mortality rate in Russian mines. One of these reasons is corruption.

“When a mining inspector writes an order to stop a mine, because there are continuous violations and today he has no right to stop himself, he goes to court with the documents, and the court summons the director and can impose a fine of up to 5 thousand rubles. At the same time, it doesn’t stop mining, because it doesn’t stop it… This is corruption, ”Mokhnachuk noted.

They do not want to go underground

He also spoke about the irresponsibility of the leaders of the mines. “Unfortunately, today few people pay attention to safety. We have chief engineers of mines, managers of mines who do not go underground for months. And who say: “I already know everything that something new can happen there,” Mokhnachuk was indignant.

This interview took place in 2010. The security problem remained. But Mokhnachuk opposes the privatization of mines.

“During the Soviet era, the number of victims in the coal industry on the territory of the Russian Federation was incomparably greater than it is now.

For example, in 1985 in the RSFSR alone (not counting the mines in Ukraine and Kazakhstan) there were 338 dead coal workers, of which 231 miners died directly in the face, underground. And in 2020, 19 miners died (of which 11 were in mines), in 2019 - 25 (9 were in mines), ”says the trade union leader.

“At the same time, labor productivity in the coal industry during the Soviet era was four to five times lower. And now, if the mines are nationalized, the official will still not be interested in increasing labor productivity, ”says Mokhnachuk.

He believes that in order to solve the safety problem, it is necessary to subordinate the industrial safety service at mines directly to the board of directors.

And now this service is under management, subordinate to the chief engineer and the head of the mine. The CEO can strip the security chief of the bonus if he refuses to follow his orders. For example, if suddenly the head of the service decides to stop production for safety reasons.

Inspect, not nationalize

The second proposal of the head of the union is to provide all miners with mobile tracking systems underground. So that every miner, when he works underground, can be monitored by the security services, and the owners, and Rostekhnadzor. And in the event of an SOS signal or, for example, loss of a signal from any miner, one could instantly react. Modern systems pick up the signal even at great depths and it would be possible to quickly respond to any emergency in the mine. Such devices are already in use in some mines, said the head of the trade union.

It is not yet known how much the damage from the explosion at Listvyazhnaya will be estimated, says Mokhnachuk. “They have not yet entered the mine to assess the damage. I'm not ready to say for sure yet, but maybe a billion rubles, less or more than this amount, ”concludes Mokhnachuk.

The well-known lawyer Anatoly Kucherena also does not support the idea of ​​nationalization. “It seems to me that Russia has exhausted the right to nationalization. In general, such an idea should be treated very carefully. At least, the deputies, before proposing something, should tell in more detail what they want. They must come up with a plan for the recovery of the coal industry. Explain in what form to nationalize - reimbursable or gratuitous? They should publish their proposals and then it will be possible to discuss all this, ”said Kucherena.

According to the lawyer, even today, nothing prevents the government from establishing clear rules for the allocation of part of the income for security.

bbabo.Net