14:35, 30 October 2018

Residents of North Ossetia argue about fate of "Electrozinc" plant

The "Electrozinc" plant after a fire. Photo by Emma Marzoeva for the "Caucasian Knot"

The closure of the "Electrozinc" plant will leave 2000 people without means of support, workers of the plant pointed out. Vyacheslav Bitarov, the leader of North Ossetia, proposed to restructure the plant to employ some of its employees.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 25, North-Ossetian MPs supported the demand to stop the "Electrozinc" metallurgical plant.

After a fire which occurred at the "Electrozinc" plant in Vladikavkaz on October 21, North-Ossetian leader Vyacheslav Bitarov called social network appeals to local residents to leave the city because of a threat to their health a "provocation voiced with a view to excite the people." Vladikavkaz Mayor Makharbek Khadartsev demanded to transfer the "Electrozinc" plant to the Urals and said that the plant was ruining the health of local residents.

Murat Tomaev, a former employee of the "Electrozinc" plant, said that he had been working in hazardous environment for 17 years, including at the "Electrozinc" plant. In 2010, he was diagnosed with cancer. Two years later, Murat Tomaev proved that the disease was connected with his work at the "Electrozinc" plant. He was fired, and his family members were left without means of support, the BBC Russian Service reports.

According to opponents of the plant, people who have lost their jobs with the closure of the plant will be able to find a job. "Are 2000 jobs worth the health of an entire nation?" wrote Alik Pukhaev, a blogger from Vladikavkaz.

Larisa Kochieva, a shift master at a hydrometallurgical workshop of the "Electrozinc" plant, disagrees with the opinion that emissions affect people's health. According to her, 1700 veterans of the work at the plant live in the republic, "many of them celebrate their 90th birthdays and do not die of cancer."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 30, 2018 at 01:16 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.