The owners of Raspadskaya mine in the west Siberia where at least 66 miners were killed in an accident almost a week ago said the mine will be restored and all jobs will be saved.
Two methane blasts hit the Raspadaskaya coal mine near Mezhdurechensk last weekend, killing at least 66 people and leaving some 130 injured. Twenty-four people are still missing underground but high levels of methane gas in the mine have forced the suspension of rescue work for at least a week.
"I believe, we will find resources to restore everything and work normally," said Raspadskaya Coal Company General Director Gennady Kozovoy said at a meeting with the miners in Mezhdurechensk on Sunday.
Kozovoy said the primary goal is to find those 24 who are still missing and the second goal is to restore the mine.
Kemerovo Region Governor Aman Tuleyev earlier said that it will take up to a year and six billion rubles ($200 million) to restore Raspadskaya mine.
Kozovoy said coal reserves in the mine are some 720 million metric tons, which is enough for several more decades of work in the mine.
The mine owners also denied all allegations about the miners' low wages.
Some 300 people protested in an unsanctioned rally in Mezhdurechensk on Friday against the owners of Raspadskaya mine. The protesters complained of low wages and lax enforcement of safety regulations. Police arrested 28 people for blocking a rail road during the protests.
Raspadskaya's general director said that only those who have low qualification receive low wedge adding that some employees sleep at work and others work instead of them.
Tuleyev on Saturday blamed the fatal accident at the Raspadskaya coalmine on the owners of the mine, saying they were answerable to questions of safety and technology.
Search operations in the mine were halted on Thursday amid fears of further blasts, although 24 people are still unaccounted for.
MEZHDURECHENSK, May 16 (RIA Novosti)
