The head of a West Siberian coalmine, hit by two deadly blasts on May 8-9, will retain his post despite severe criticism from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a spokeswoman for the mine's administration said on Monday.
Putin lashed out at the head of the Raspadskaya coalmine, Igor Volkov earlier on Monday, saying the Russian industrial safety regulator sought Volkov's resignation last year over "numerous violations."
"The company has no plans to sack him. He will take part in restoring the mine," Galina Kovalchuk said.
Two explosions hit the Raspadskaya mine near Mezhdurechensk a week ago, killing 66 people and leaving over 100 injured. Twenty-four people are still missing underground.
The Russian industrial safety watchdog detected over 1,400 safety violations at the mine in 2009 and in January-April 2010 and suspended production five times.
Rostekhnadzor filed four cases last year for Volkov to be disqualified from office and sacked, but he only received fines of 1,000-2,000 rubles ($30-60).
MOSCOW, May 17 (RIA Novosti)
