Prime Minister Putin's introductory remarks:
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,
It's been over six weeks since the tragedy at the Raspadskaya coalmine, a tragedy that claimed the lives of dozens. All this time disaster relief operations and assistance to bereaved families and the injured have received constant attention. The government set up an ad hoc commission to address all these issues.
Today we'll discuss the preliminary results of these efforts. I said ‘preliminary results' because, unfortunately, the disaster relief operations are not over yet: the fire in the coalmine has not yet been extinguished.
We'll also review how federal and local executive bodies have fulfilled government instructions.
Before this meeting, I spoke with coal miners and the family members and widows of the coal miners who died at Raspadskaya. Everyone affected by that tragedy had received aid immediately. The money was allotted from the federal and regional budgets, with a certain amount provided by the company.
These people wanted to know what will be done next. They fear they may be forgotten. They also asked about the future of the Raspadskaya coal mine and the industry in general.
Therefore, as I have said many times, we must systematically address every issue that has to do with social support for the families affected by the tragedy. We need to attend to their housing, education and employment problems. We cannot forget anyone here.
I ask Governor Aman Tuleyev to report today on the progress in these efforts. At the meeting with the bereaved families, we agreed that each family should be given an opportunity to meet with the authorities in charge of these issues again. They're facing many individual problems, and each of them should be resolved. I know you can do this, and I'm asking you to see this through to the end.
There's one more problem: 23 coal miners are still reported missing. We know the law for these situations, and I'd like to thank the leadership of the mine and the governor for the decision to make payments equivalent to these miners' salaries to their families. In the event that these miners are declared dead, their families must receive due financial support immediately, as required by government instructions.
I'm asking the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development and other agencies involved to take charge of all related legal issues to provide due compensation to the families of these coal miners.
Now let's turn our attention to the investigation of the causes of the disaster and the conclusions we must draw. Neither the Emergencies Ministry nor the Federal Service for Supervision of Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management are ready with their final analysis of the causes of the two explosions. Experts will continue their work until all circumstances of the incident are uncovered. I'd like experts from the Federal Service for Supervision of Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management to bear in mind that this work should be of the highest possible quality, and that they're under a tight deadline. The investigation cannot drag on forever. I'd like you to speed up this work. I also hope that investigative agencies will perform the same job at the same high level.
However, the analysis has shown a clear need for systematic change in the coal mining industry. I'd like Minister of Energy Sergei Shmatko to report today on the measures designed to ensure the stable and safe development of the coal mining industry, as well as the industry's modernisation.
I think we should seriously increase the personal responsibility of company executives and shareholders for safety violations.
It's understood that businesses want higher profits, but safety must be the number one priority in the workplace, especially in high-risk industries.
I discussed this at today's meeting with coal miners, who continue to work in difficult conditions. I told them nothing could be more valuable than human life, and that I'd like shareholders, company executives and officials in the energy industry to understand this.
Last year over 5,000 safety violations were found at mining facilities. Moreover, some companies' management tried to conceal work accidents, and even deaths, which is beyond understanding and common sense. They were trying to hide incidents that were fatal.
It's obvious that we need real, not fictitious government supervision in high-risk industries. From now on, the Federal Service for Supervision of Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management will report directly to the government of the Russian Federation. This measure is intended to increase the agency's independence and responsibility. All the necessary documents are ready, and this decision will be enacted in the near future.
Moreover, we'll improve coordination between mine rescue services, which were previously supervised by different agencies. From now on, the Emergencies Ministry will be in charge of all such services. I signed a related government executive order yesterday.
These changes should be followed by practical measures to improve safety at coalmines and increase control over their fulfillment. Supervision agencies will even be given the right to suspend operations at hazardous coalmines and dismiss company management if grave violations of industrial safety rules are uncovered, even without a court ruling.
Next, we need to create administrative and economic incentives to encourage businesses to invest in mining, modernisation and safety.
We also need to create the system of general liability insurance for the owners of high-risk mining facilities. This will certainly increase costs, but I believe it is absolutely necessary.
We'll need to define which facilities are subject to mandatory insurance. A relevant draft law has been introduced in the State Duma, and I'll ask the parliament to speed up work on it.
As you know, I've just met with coal miners. Their courage, endurance and calm have to be admired. Their opinion on the situation at the Raspadskaya was very impartial. Some of them mentioned that safety and technology issues have received much attention in the recent years.
But I have told them, and I repeat it here, that if there was a tragedy, it means they have not done their jobs properly.
As I have said, a relevant draft law has been submitted to the State Duma. We will give it our support. It should certainly be a thoroughly verified and balanced document.
There must be absolutely no lobbying games around this draft law, and no attempts to bury it as premature or unnecessary. World practice has shown that there is no better incentive than insurance for industrial managers to invest in production safety.
I believe we should pay more attention to safety and equipment modernisation issues when licensing subsoil use. If you want to expand your business and build up production, you should first bring your business into order and provide decent working conditions in your companies.
What, perhaps, matters most, we should learn from global experience in this sector, which is regulated by the state, however sensitive and complicated it might be.
What do I consider of principled importance here? The scope of managers', proprietors' and shareholders' social commitments should make it profitable to invest in industrial safety. That is what certain countries do to ensure production safety.
It is certainly necessary to push one matter through. I mean changing the formula according to which wages are calculated. Fixed wages should account for at least 70% of miners' total earnings, and the rest should depend on the output.
We have talked it over with all Raspadskaya shareholders. I know you support this decision, and I thank you for that. I hope the pattern will spread to the entire industry.
I stress that decisions concerning wages apply to all the 158,000 Russian mine employees plus their families, so all issues should be settled with government, trade union and employer participation.
Now, let us talk about the future of the Raspadskaya mine. It must be repaired, as we have said. In fact, repairs are underway already, but they cannot achieve a full scale before all clean-up operations are completed and expertise confirms it.
Please take notice: I ask the Ministry of Regional Development to consider the mine restoration project as soon as it is ready, and I warn the ministry against procrastination.
Let us get down to business. Mr Zubkov has the floor.
Viktor Zubkov: Mr Putin,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Since the day the government commission was established, it has focused on your instructions connected with the Raspadskaya accident, with special attention to financial and social support to the injured and the families of dead miners and rescuers. Medical aid and other urgent accident-related problems are also in the foreground.
Mr Putin, I have to report that the commission has paid all direct monetary grants from the federal budget that you promised. In particular, we have granted support to the 23 families of the miners you have mentioned now, whose bodies have not been removed from the mine to this day.
The government commission and the mine's management have decided that the employer will pay an average wage to the victims families every month until the bodies are recovered. As soon as this is done, the 23 families will receive specified federal grants. The commission has transferred relevant funding (a million roubles per family) to the Kemerovo regional administration. All grants from the region and the employers will be paid in the same way.
As I have said, the commission has arranged extra financial aid from the Kemerovo regional budget and at the employer's expense. In addition, efforts have been made to provide assistance in repaying loans and provide housing. As of today, we have purchased 26 flats and repaid 11 mortgages...
Vladimir Putin: 28 flats have been bought, as far as I know. Is that a slip of the tongue, or do you have the wrong figures?
Viktor Zubkov: It is 28, you are right.
Vladimir Putin: So it's 28.
Viktor Zubkov: We have repaid 11 mortgages and 115 consumer loans. We are further considering issuing grants to bereaved families in need of better housing. You have made additional instructions on the matter to the regional governor [Aman Tuleyev] today.
All the 29 university students from the victims' families have been exempted from tuition fees. The commission has provided health resort treatment for the injured and the victims' family members.
Statistics are changing from day to day as relief efforts are progressing. Medical aid has been provided to 138 people. Nine are still undergoing treatment. One of them is a grave case while the other eight patients' condition is satisfactory.
I think Mr Tuleyev can tell us about housing and other aid in greater detail.
Let us get over to accident investigation. The Investigation Committee under the Prosecutor General's office, the Federal Service for Supervision of Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management, and the Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Response continue their work. They retrieve and study technical and other documents concerning the performance of the Raspadskaya mine, and question technical experts, miners and their families. The commission will report final results and conclusions on the probable causes of the disaster after the investigation is over and the files are forwarded to court in line with established legal procedure.
The mine tunnels are being examined and the fire and its effects have been contained. The fire went out of control and air pollution is increasing, so a decision was taken to flood the mine and pump air in.
Now a few words about the commission's efforts to implement the instructions aimed at finding a comprehensive solution to problems in the coal mining industry: safety regulations will become tougher and there will be increased social protection for miners. As you have said, a relevant presidential decree is ready, and I think it will be signed within a few days.
Fixed wage will increase to 70% of miners' total earnings by July 5. We have analysed this issue in great detail in an extensive discussion involving trade unions. The general opinion is that the change does not require a regulatory legal act because it pertains to social partnership, and it will be sufficient to have an industrial agreement.
We have consulted trade unions and coalmine owners on relevant amendments to the industrial and pay rate agreements.
However, when we met with miners today, the issue of holidays was brought up. I think we should continue cooperating with trade unions and mine owners to conduct a comprehensive study of this subject, too.
On June 15, the Federal Labour and Employment Service started scheduled inspections of 146 coalmines in every part of Russia to check the use of employers' labour protection allocations and their sufficiency to guarantee industrial safety. The commission will make a separate report on proposals resulting from the check. I think you can expect this report in August.
As for legislative amendments to enhance safety in the mining industry, a draft law is ready which will give the Federal Service for Supervision of Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management the right to suspend the work of coalmines if it finds occupational safety violations threatening lives and health and/or conducive of accidents and major environmental pollution, including accident-related pollution.
Another draft law will make it possible to urgently introduce or amend industrial safety standards of production processes. Mr Putin, I will see to it that the State Duma debates these draft laws during its spring session.
As for repairs on the mine and its personnel, the efforts on drafting the restoration project have started. We have visited the mine together with top officials from relevant agencies today, and talked to employees. They are working and have no complaints. Practically all the damaged equipment has been brought to surface. You saw it all with your own eyes on May 11. Now, almost everything has been repaired.
Things are much worse underground. The situation is complicated, as you have said. Fires are continuing. 100 to 120 rescuers are working in shifts at a time. It's all manual work and a hell of a job. There are thousands of tonnes of cargoes to deliver underground to wall off the tunnels on fire and so contain it.
However hard it might be to restore the mine, repairs are in progress. We have talked to officials at the headquarters, who make every effort every day to secure every piece of equipment that can help the repairmen.
It is too early yet to assess repair costs with any precision. However, the analysis of your directive allows us to conclude that federal allocations would be welcome at present to finish the reconstruction of the transformer substation that is crucial for energy supply now and will work for the restored mine later. The matter has been coordinated with the Ministry of Finance, as I was told.
In short, Mr Putin, the commission has been organised and is fulfilling your instructions on the social support to the injured and bereaved, and on the supervision of all kinds of relief reaching everyone in need. We continue investigating the causes of the accident, and work to improve the legislation.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank all commission members for their achievements, efficiency and the humane, unofficial approach to problems. I want to make special mention of the work of Kemerovo Governor Aman Tuleyev and ministers Sergei Shoigu and Tatyana Golikova.
To conclude, I want to say that commission's analysis fully confirms the presence of systemic problems in the coal industry, as you have mentioned, and the obsolescence of relevant legislation. The legal basis regulating the entire range of problems, including mine owners' material liability in similar accidents, cannot meet present-day demands. All these problems demand comprehensive solution.
The government commission will continue its work and take necessary measures to coordinate the activity of all federal executive bodies on the issues to tackle further.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you, Mr Zubkov. I would like to say that although the commission is working as it should, it is too early to thank anyone: first, we are just doing our duty and, second, the job is not over yet. Last but not least, when we met with miners' bereaved families and employee spokesmen, certain issues were raised in need of further attention. Some of them are sheer technicalities.
I met with people with huge experience in the coal industry, who tackle decontamination and other technical matters. The project should take all that into account: the draft instruction summarising our work today should include this and other problems. This is the first point.
The second point concerns a wide range of social problems. We have just talked about changing miners' remuneration and the principles underlying it, with fixed wages making 70% of total earnings and 30% depending on the output. The miners have raised other issues, however. I do not want to forestall the final decision. I am just saying say that questions have been posed concerning, say, holidays and holiday benefits. Please reconsider the matter as you work on amendments to the labour agreement and the Labour Code, because not only the code but also the relevant government decree reflects it. Miners have asked us to reconsider it. So much for the second point.
The third point is a sensitive issue. People realise that but, nevertheless, the issue has been raised. I know, and I feel obliged to say it out loud and directly, that Raspadskaya managers and stockholders have not spared any expense to fulfil their social commitments in full. However, there is a problem. Everyone is receiving the average wage, but average wages differ though everyone is doing the same job. They are all working hard in the mine, carrying equipment on their backs. Everything has to be done by hand. So the job is the same but the earnings are different. I know this is a complicated problem. Still, I would like you to look into it. Would you like to make any comments?
Response: We will settle it within a month.
Vladimir Putin: Within June, you say? All right, thank you. Last but not least comes a matter to which I have called Mr Tuleyev's attention. I know a big job has been done. Members of the bereaved families have told me today that we have fulfilled our principal commitments. However, every family has its own problems. There are many details that demand the greatest care.
As we have agreed, Mr Tuleyev will meet with all victims' relatives once again to settle even the minor problems that remain unsettled.
Mr Tuleyev, I know you have a great deal of experience. I want to ask you to do it all again and please don't bear a grudge against me if I check your work all over again.