The Raspadskaya coalmine, where at least 47 people died in an accident at the weekend, had no insurance coverage for production equipment or civil liability, the company's 2009 report suggested.
The west Siberian mine, where 43 people are still missing underground following the two explosions, which also injured 70 people, belongs to the Raspadskaya Coal Company.
The company's financial statements for 2009, prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards, stated that "the company does not insure basic production equipment or civil liability."
"The group complies with the requirements of the Russian legislation on obligatory insurance, and also has insurance contracts for particular assets that are used as collateral under loan agreements," the report said.
At the same time, the company says on its website that it insures the liability of its enterprises for causing damage to the life, health or property of other persons and the environment in case of an accident and also covers obligatory medical insurance for the personnel employed by its enterprises.
Raspadskaya coalminers were insured against accidents at the insurance company Siberian Spas, Boris Chikurov, the company's deputy general director, told RIA Novosti.
The Raspadskaya mine, near the town of Mezhdurechensk in the Kemerovo Region, is Russia's biggest coal mine, producing 10% of coking coal in the country. It is characterized by high concentrations of methane, a gas that is released from coal or surrounding rock strata in the process of coal mining.
Therefore, about $1 billion was invested in the coalmine in the past five years to make it the world's most technically outfitted mine, including in terms of methane safety, Kemerovo Region Governor Aman Tuleyev said, according to Russian business newspaper Vedomosti.
There has been no indication of how long production at the mine could be interrupted, with operations at the site still focused on the people missing underground. Analysts said a break of about a month would not have much affect on the market, but beyond three or six months and there could be serious problems.
MOSCOW, May 11 (RIA Novosti)
