QARAGHANDY, Kazakhstan -- Baby 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 mother, Anastasiya Sosnovskaya -- widowed at the age of 22 -- hasn’t yet received any of the promised state compensation from her late husband’s employer that was to be given to the devastated families of the victims of the tragedy.
Sosnovskaya also complains about the never-ending bureaucratic obstacles and complicated procedures she must complete to prove she is eligible to receive benefits.
“Right after the burial of my husband, I am hit with another burden as I was ordered to take a DNA test to establish the paternity of my baby in order to qualify for the life insurance payment,” Sosnovskaya told RFE/RL. “Everything is being delayed, and now we also have to take part in a court trial.”
The October 28 fire at the Kostenko mine in Qaraghandy Province killed 46 people and injured more than 200 others, making it the deadliest mine accident in Kazakhstan since it gained independence in 1991.
As the Central Asian nation mourned the victims, state and mining officials pledged generous compensation to the victims’ families.
But more than two months later, many families say they haven’t received any money or other assistance that authorities promised would be swiftly delivered. They also accuse officials of withholding funds from private individuals and companies donated to the victims’ families.
Among the miners killed in the fire was 32-year-old Damir Kalimulin, who left behind his wife and 7-year-old daughter.
Kalimulin had studied at a distance-learning college in hopes of changing his profession. But that dream was never realized as he perished trying to escape the deadly heat and fumes of the fire.
“Damir was killed when he was just 200 meters away from reaching safety,” his wife, Yulya Kalimulina, told RFE/RL.
“My daughter cries for her dad and this sadness has made her ill. She had to be hospitalized,” Kalimulina said while showing drawings her daughter made in memory of her father.
The operator of the mining facility, ArcelorMittal Temirtau, which is the local entity of Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal, said 206 of the 252 people at the Kostenko mine were evacuated after the fire broke out. The assets of the company have since been acquired by a Kazakh company and renamed Qarmet.
Kalimulina has received some of the financial compensation she was promised, enough to buy a modest home. She has also applied for insurance payments for her daughter and other benefits the family is eligible for.
“It’s painful enough to realize I can’t bring my husband back,” she said. “[But I also] had to travel several times to another city to gather the needed paperwork for the benefits, but officials told me later they had lost the documents and I had to do everything all over again.”
The miner’s widow said many relatives of the victims don’t know their rights when their applications are denied by officials.
Backtracking On Promises?
The stepson of one dead miner says he was denied compensation while the rest of the family received it.
Vasily Magada, who suffers from seizures, says he depended on the support of his stepfather, Rinat Kadyrov.
When authorities asked the victims’ families at a funeral ceremony for the miners what kind of assistance they needed, Magada said he requested some coal to heat his home and financial help to pay off a medical debt.
“The governor of Qaraghandy Province told me: ‘We’ll help you.’ But when I applied for the assistance it was rejected and authorities didn’t respond to my inquiries,” Magada said.
“Then I wrote to the [Kazakh] president’s office. On December 26, I received a letter from Qaraghandy authorities saying they had already paid out all of the compensation to the family,” he added.
Magada wasn’t told why he wasn’t included on the list of family members eligible for compensation or whether he will ever get the coal and financial aid he was promised.
Relatives of another victim of the mine fire, Vladimir Kataman, says the new owner of the Kostenko mine declined to pay for a modest home for his family despite initially promising to do so. According to an agreement between the company and the victims’ families, Qarmet has committed to pay for homes that have up to 18 square meters per family member.
“We found an apartment to buy within this size limit, but the company refused to pay, saying we had exceeded the price limit,” said Kataman’s son, Aleksandr.
“It wasn’t some kind of expensive, elite home. It was a very ordinary apartment. Besides, there wasn’t an upper limit on the price [in the agreement],” he said.
The family wants Qarmet to fulfill its legal obligations and has hired a lawyer.
State And Employer Obligations
RFE/RL contacted officials at Qarmet and authorities in Qaraghandy for comment but received no response. ArcelorMittal Temirtau’s assets were bought for some $286 million after Astana decided to end “investment cooperation” with ArcelorMittal in the wake of the deadly fire.
The Qaraghandy government told RFE/RL that authorities have provided legal support for the victims and assisted them in resolving individual cases for issues such as health care, education, and utilities. But they didn’t respond to RFE/RL’s questions about the complaints of many family members about the procedural problems and unpaid compensation.
According to the Kazakh Labor Ministry, the state’s obligations for the victims’ families include providing social-security benefits based on the deceased person’s salary and their number of dependents.
The ministry said the employer’s responsibilities include paying for the victims’ funerals, burial, and memorial services, repaying the deceased person’s loans, and a one-off payment to each family that is equal to 10 annual salaries of the miner.
Qarmet is also required to pay the medical insurance for the children of the victims until they reach 18, or 23 if they attend university. The company has also been ordered to pay the education costs for the children, for summer camps, and any medical treatment in sanatoriums. Qarmet is also required to provide New Year’s gifts for the family and coal to heat their homes, if needed.
Qarmet’s other obligations include providing jobs at the company for the spouses and children of the victims if they want such work. Some of the relatives told RFE/RL that Qarmet has made such employment offers.
