MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/. Miners working at the Darasun gold mine in Russia’s Trans-Baikal Region, who suspended their work and went on hunger strike due to unpaid wages, received over 15 mln rubles (about $238,000), the protest action has been suspended, Russian Federal Labor and Employment Agency’s press service reported.
"According to current information, the miners from the Darasun goldmine have received their wages for May, so the protest has been suspended. The total amount paid is over 15 mln rubles. We expect that the remaining debt to be paid in the near future," the agency stated.
It was reported earlier on Friday that the miners had started to receive money and decided to suspend their hunger strike. However, the miners are still refusing to work, protestor Andrey Mikheichev told TASS.
"On Thursday evening, we started to receive the May wages, but not everyone has gotten it yet. Nevertheless, we decided to suspend the hunger strike starting 9:00 local time (3:00 Moscow time). However, if the debt is not paid in full by Monday, the hunger strike will begin again. And our strike is still ongoing," Mikheichev said.
The gold mine’s director Evgeniy Rogalev told TASS that the enterprise had received 16.6 mln rubles (about $264,000) in wages for May. "At the start of next week, we will resolve the issue of June wages, then the workers will receive holiday allowances and advances for July," he added.
According to regional prosecutors, the Darasun Mine Company owes 32 mln rubles ($508,600) to the miners. A criminal case has been launched against the company under Article 5.27 of the Russian Administrative Code (repeated failure of timely payment of wages).
The press service of Russia’s Federal Labor and Employment Agency said on Wednesday that the agency’s regional branch was conducting a probe into possible violations of the payment of wages law. The regional branch of the Russian Investigative Committee has also initiated a probe.