QARAGHANDY, Kazakhstan — Child Afina was born two weeks after her 26-year-old father, Timur Sosnovsky, died in an inferno at a coal mine in central Kazakhstan with 45 others in October.
Afina’s mom, Anastasiya Sosnovskaya — widowed on the age of twenty-two — hasn’t but acquired any of the promised state compensation from her late husband’s employer that was to be given to the devastated households of the victims of the tragedy.
Sosnovskaya additionally complains in regards to the endless bureaucratic obstacles and complex procedures she should full to show she is eligible to obtain advantages.
“Proper after the burial of my husband, I’m hit with one other burden as I used to be ordered to take a DNA check to ascertain the paternity of my child with a purpose to qualify for the life insurance coverage cost,” Sosnovskaya instructed RFE/RL. “Every little thing is being delayed, and now we even have to participate in a courtroom trial.”
The October 28 fireplace on the Kostenko mine in Qaraghandy Province killed 46 individuals and injured greater than 200 others, making it the deadliest mine accident in Kazakhstan because it gained independence in 1991.
Because the Central Asian nation mourned the victims, state and mining officers pledged beneficiant compensation to the victims’ households.
However greater than two months later, many households say they haven’t acquired any cash or different help that authorities promised could be swiftly delivered. Additionally they accuse officers of withholding funds from non-public people and firms donated to the victims’ households.
Among the many miners killed within the fireplace was 32-year-old Damir Kalimulin, who left behind his spouse and 7-year-old daughter.
Kalimulin had studied at a distance-learning faculty in hopes of fixing his occupation. However that dream was by no means realized as he perished making an attempt to flee the lethal warmth and fumes of the hearth.
“Damir was killed when he was simply 200 meters away from reaching security,” his spouse, Yulya Kalimulina, instructed RFE/RL.
“My daughter cries for her dad and this disappointment has made her sick. She needed to be hospitalized,” Kalimulina mentioned whereas displaying drawings her daughter made in reminiscence of her father.
The operator of the mining facility, ArcelorMittal Temirtau, which is the native entity of Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal, mentioned 206 of the 252 individuals on the Kostenko mine had been evacuated after the hearth broke out. The belongings of the corporate have since been acquired by a Kazakh firm and renamed Qarmet.
Kalimulina has acquired a few of the monetary compensation she was promised, sufficient to purchase a modest house. She has additionally utilized for insurance coverage funds for her daughter and different advantages the household is eligible for.
“It’s painful sufficient to understand I can’t carry my husband again,” she mentioned. “[But I also] needed to journey a number of instances to a different metropolis to collect the wanted paperwork for the advantages, however officers instructed me later that they had misplaced the paperwork and I needed to do every little thing over again.”
The miner’s widow mentioned many relations of the victims don’t know their rights when their functions are denied by officers.
Backtracking On Guarantees?
The stepson of 1 useless miner says he was denied compensation whereas the remainder of the household acquired it.
Vasily Magada, who suffers from seizures, says he relied on the assist of his stepfather, Rinat Kadyrov.
When authorities requested the victims’ households at a funeral ceremony for the miners what sort of help they wanted, Magada mentioned he requested some coal to warmth his house and monetary assist to repay a medical debt.
“The governor of Qaraghandy Province instructed me: ‘We’ll aid you.’ However after I utilized for the help it was rejected and authorities didn’t reply to my inquiries,” Magada mentioned.
“Then I wrote to the [Kazakh] president’s workplace. On December 26, I acquired a letter from Qaraghandy authorities saying that they had already paid out the entire compensation to the household,” he added.
Magada wasn’t instructed why he wasn’t included on the record of relations eligible for compensation or whether or not he’ll ever get the coal and monetary support he was promised.
Family members of one other sufferer of the mine fireplace, Vladimir Kataman, says the brand new proprietor of the Kostenko mine declined to pay for a modest house for his household regardless of initially promising to take action. In response to an settlement between the corporate and the victims’ households, Qarmet has dedicated to pay for properties which have as much as 18 sq. meters per member of the family.
“We discovered an condominium to purchase inside this dimension restrict, however the firm refused to pay, saying we had exceeded the value restrict,” mentioned Kataman’s son, Aleksandr.
“It wasn’t some type of costly, elite house. It was a really odd condominium. Moreover, there wasn’t an higher restrict on the value [in the agreement],” he mentioned.
The household needs Qarmet to satisfy its authorized obligations and has employed a lawyer.
State And Employer Obligations
RFE/RL contacted officers at Qarmet and authorities in Qaraghandy for remark however acquired no response. ArcelorMittal Temirtau’s belongings had been purchased for some $286 million after Astana determined to finish “funding cooperation” with ArcelorMittal within the wake of the lethal fireplace.
The Qaraghandy authorities instructed RFE/RL that authorities have offered authorized assist for the victims and assisted them in resolving particular person circumstances for points comparable to well being care, schooling, and utilities. However they didn’t reply to RFE/RL’s questions in regards to the complaints of many relations in regards to the procedural issues and unpaid compensation.
In response to the Kazakh Labor Ministry, the state’s obligations for the victims’ households embody offering social-security advantages primarily based on the deceased particular person’s wage and their variety of dependents.
The ministry mentioned the employer’s tasks embody paying for the victims’ funerals, burial, and memorial providers, repaying the deceased particular person’s loans, and a one-off cost to every household that is the same as 10 annual salaries of the miner.
Qarmet can also be required to pay the medical insurance coverage for the kids of the victims till they attain 18, or 23 in the event that they attend college. The corporate has additionally been ordered to pay the schooling prices for the kids, for summer season camps, and any medical remedy in sanatoriums. Qarmet can also be required to offer New Yr’s items for the household and coal to warmth their properties, if wanted.
Qarmet’s different obligations embody offering jobs on the firm for the spouses and youngsters of the victims if they need such work. A few of the relations instructed RFE/RL that Qarmet has made such employment provides.