The Investigative Committee of the Moscow Region is investigating the circumstances of the explosion at a pyrotechnics warehouse in Sergiev Posad, in which more than 50 people were injured. The company “Piro-Ross” has long been infamous with partners and government agencies. What is known about her?
What happened at the Zagorsk Optical and Mechanical Plant
In Sergiev Posad, a powerful explosion occurred at the Zagorsk Optical and Mechanical Plant, which produces technical security equipment, medical and dosimetric equipment. The number of victims (not only workers, but also local residents who were nearby) exceeded 50 people, six of them in intensive care with burns of 100% of the body, 14 were hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, the rest escaped with minor injuries. Under the rubble are still at least five, including the driver of the company’s CEO, who owns the ill-fated warehouse with pyrotechnics.
The building of the plant, which was built back in 1935, was recently reconstructed and repaired, since then it has been an office center, where premises were rented out at a completely “Moscow” price – 4.8 thousand rubles per year per square meter. Now it’s all – the updated beautiful facade, high-quality plastic windows, modern fire and security alarm systems, fresh electrics, Armstrong ceilings – are either destroyed or damaged.
The blast wave covered and damaged several nearby buildings: Sergiev Posad College, schools No. 19 and 21, the Luch sports complex, and about 20 apartment buildings. There, windows flew out, frames burst, furniture turned over and ceilings fell down.
What are the versions of the explosion
Doctors, firefighters, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and law enforcement agencies are already working hard at the scene. The governor of the Moscow region promised to help all the victims, including the owners of apartments affected by the explosion. The Regional Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case under Article 217 of the Criminal Code (violation of industrial safety requirements for hazardous production facilities). According to preliminary data, one victim has already died. In this case, the perpetrators face imprisonment for up to five years. If there are more victims – up to seven years.
Experts are already working on the territory of the plant. Non-compliance with explosion and fire safety measures at the facility is considered as the main working version. Special requirements are imposed on warehouses where pyrotechnics are stored. As part of the criminal case, investigators will find out how the storage of hazardous products was organized, who was responsible for this and who checked it. It is possible that inspectors of the Fire Supervision Ministry of Emergency Situations may become defendants in the criminal case if it turns out that they detected violations in the warehouse, but did not seek to eliminate them.
It is possible that this could be a deliberate arson for the sake of revenge. Or everything was arranged so as not to fulfill certain obligations to partners and creditors. Rumors circulating about an alleged UAV strike have been debunked. All these versions will be carefully worked out by experts and investigators.
What is known about the company “Piro-Ross”
The epicenter of the explosion was a hangar for one and a half thousand squares, the tenant of which, the Piro-Ross company, kept pyrotechnics there. with her leader Sergey Chankaev investigators are working now. What is this company and who is behind it?
The Piro-Ross company was mainly engaged in government orders for large batches of fireworks for large events. In total, in 2009-2020, she signed almost five hundred state contracts for 385 million rubles. Recently, the company has not been doing very well – the company went bankrupt.
Only from the beginning of 2022 to the present, Piro-Ross has acted as a defendant in 17 cases in court. Claims were made against this company, for example, by the 6th Arsenal, the 53rd Arsenal, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the insurance VSK, the Burevestnik Central Research Institute, Roskomnadzor, the Sergiev Posad Regional Operator, Sovcombank, JSC Connector “, Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Protection” of the Russian Guard, FKP “Scientific Test Center of the Rocket and Space Industry” and even foreign Kazspecexport. Judging by the materials of these lawsuits, the Piro-Ross company was in no hurry to fulfill its obligations to counterparties and owed everyone. For example, according to the case filethe company received four tons of smoky gunpowder from JSC “53rd Arsenal” for its needs, but never paid.
It’s not the first time Piro-Ross has made headlines. Last year, its director did not pay 50 million rubles in salaries to 150 of his employees (including pensioners and the disabled) and filed for bankruptcy. The arbitration court granted the request. In April of this year, a bankruptcy trustee was appointed.
How does the business owner live?
The co-owner of the Piro-Ross company and the former general director, 69-year-old Sergei Chankaev, was at the enterprise during the explosion and held a meeting. Chankaev has already stated that shortly before the incident, he allegedly heard a short rumble, clearly hinting at the UAV. According to him, the explosion did not occur where the pyrotechnics were stored, but in a nearby warehouse, where metal pipes lay, which cannot explode on their own in principle.
Sergei ChankaevChankaev does not look like a rich man. He lives in Sergiev Posad in a small three-room brick nine-story building, and drives far from new cars – a Volkswagen Passat sedan and a BMW X6 SUV. By the way, his whole family worked in the Piro-Ross company: his wife and both daughters. One of the daughters recently applied for Turkish citizenship for his grandchildren. Judging by their social networks, they live in Izmail.
The second daughter occupies a spacious apartment in the Krasnogorsk low-rise residential complex of the business class “Rublevskoe Suburb”, such real estate will cost 16 million rubles. The family also has a couple of more modest apartments in the panels of the Krylatsky and Kuntsevsky districts of Moscow.
Governor of the Moscow Region Andrey Vorobyov
