KEMEROVO, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - Evraz Group will buy all the stakes in Yuzhkuzbassugol, the owner of a Kemerovo Region mine where an explosion claimed 38 lives Thursday, from legal entities, a spokesman for the West Siberian region's administration said Friday.
The explosion at the Yubileinaya mine occurred at 7:40 a.m. Moscow time (3:40 a.m. GMT), as 217 miners were working underground. The accident comes on the heels of another powerful methane blast at a neighboring mine, owned by the same company, on March 19, in which 110 miners died.
"Alexander Abramov [chairman of the Yuzhkuzbassugol board and member of Evraz board] told a news conference at the site of the explosion Friday that Evraz Group is planning to buy Yuzhkuzbassugol stakes from legal entities," the source said.
Although the steel and mining group's press service has not yet commented on the statement, spokesmen for Yuzhkuzbassugol have confirmed the information.
