The ex-head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kuzbass was released in the case of the fire in “Zimney Vishne”

The court in Kemerovo freed the former head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Kemerovo Region, Alexander Mamontov, from punishment. Earlier, he was sentenced to 10.5 years of general regime prison and a fine of 900,000 rubles in the case of the fire in the “Zimnyaya Vishnya” shopping center.

As TASS reports, he was released from punishment under the article on negligence due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution. The court decided to immediately release Mamontov from custody. The defense sought the annulment of the sentence, but not because of the expiration of the statute of limitations, but with the wording of acquittal. Mamontova’s lawyer stated that she considers her client innocent and plans to file a cassation appeal.

The court also reduced the sentence of the chief state inspector for fire supervision of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Kemerovo Hryhoriy Terentyev – from 8.5 to 7.5 years in a general regime colony. He was also released from punishment for negligence due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

On June 27, 2023, the court in Kemerovo found Mamontov guilty of negligence that caused the death of two or more people through negligence, as well as of embezzlement on a large scale. Terentiev was found guilty of negligence and fraud using official position.

According to the investigation, they knew about violations of fire safety in “Zimney Vyshne”, but “did not take measures to conduct an inspection.” In particular, due to the negligence of the former head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the state inspector, according to the investigators, the fire extinguishing system turned out to be broken, and the emergency exits closed

• On March 25, 2018, a major fire occurred in the “Winter Cherry” shopping center in Kemerovo. 60 people died, including 37 children, and another 147 people were injured. As a result of the fire, five criminal cases were initiated against 15 people: employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, officials and employees of the shopping center.
• The investigation came to the conclusion that on the day of the fire in the mall, the fire alarm did not work, and the guard on duty turned off the fire protection system. In addition, the emergency exits from “Zimney Vyshny” turned out to be locked.