In July last year the Komsomol district court of Tolyatti were found guilty of fraud in especially large size shareholders of the plant: both Maglev, their Swiss partners Andreas Tsivi and Beata Ruprecht and former CEO Evgeny Korolev. Damage to the ToAZ caused fraudulent schemes amounted to 77 billion rubles Immense greed of the owners of the plant for many years has ruined and destroyed the enterprise. Not surprisingly, this once thriving chemical giant didn’t have enough money not only to modernize and overhaul, but even the purchase of basic raw materials.
In October 2019 inspection of the country’s largest producer of ammonia of JSC “Togliattiazot”, held by the Central office of Rostekhnadzor in response to the petition of residents of the Samara region, has shed light on the situation with industrial safety in the factory.
the result, it was found 360 violations, including very serious, according to one of the editions. Media, followed the course of the audit, wrote about such shocking things as a leak of explosive natural gas flowing and falling from overpasses piping toxic ammonia, the crumbling Foundation under the units.
a Significant part of the plant’s equipment is in disrepair, and some of the nodes, units and pipelines – critical, which poses a threat of major accidents. Rostekhnadzor has directed check materials to court which issued a decision to suspend a hazardous facility 1-St class of danger – “Warehouse of raw material acid and alkali.”
At trial, the representatives of Rostechnadzor stated that “the violations create a valid and real threat to life and health that can lead to accidents that had already taken place in the company. The company a long time does not take substantial measures to eliminate the violations continued with the operation of industrial facilities of a higher category of risk, which exacerbates the situation, because the further operation of industrial facilities involves a real danger to the life and health of the employees and for residents of surrounding towns, as well as for the environment.”
it was Assumed that suspended the leadership of ToAZ should use to eliminate the gross violations that threaten the life and health of not only plant personnel but also all residents of the region. But, as he wrote the Samara mass-media, to stop the dangerous trade no one was going. Time after time police officers, who came to the plant to seal equipment, misled, and employees of local SPU RTN simply washed his hands.
And this policy has brought its sad results. JSC “Togliattiazot” 12 April, there was a group accident with a fatal outcome, reported letterscially the portal PROGORODSAMARA. When working on gamirovna capacity of alkali in the shop N 63 severe burns were received by two workers. One died on the spot when providing medical care, the other died two days later in intensive care, where he was taken with burns over 50% of the body.
the Group accidents with the deaths of workers turn into a threatening trend in the enterprise, sounding the alarm PROGORODSAMARA. After all, this is the third such case in a year and a half and already the second in the last three weeks. The media recalls that on March 27 following the collapse of the pit on the construction of the third urea unit, three workers were under the rubble. One of them in time to rescue failed. And October 15, 2018 when performing work on the column of ammonia unit No. 3 from poisoning by nitrogen killed the chief engineer.
for many years, as the newspaper “Version”, the company carried out the alleged inspection of industrial safety, in which employees of the plant are coordinated with the inspectors of Sredne-the Volga management RTN minor violations, the company paid paltry fines, and serious violations of the accident and was hiding, investigations have been conducted on them. Despite the documented Federal Rostechnadzor numerous violations, the causes of many of the previously occurred incidents and accidents on ToAZ has not been investigated.
meanwhile, according to media reports, dangerous equipment continues to operate, threatening thousands of ToAZ workers and residents of the Samara region.
Therefore, the citizens filed another appeal to the state authorities, which talked about the known dangerous disorders. In it, in particular, according to the extremely poor condition of the gas infrastructure ToAZ, which is operated in excess of design loads is permitted without stopping, reconstruction, technical upgrade or a full overhaul, more than 40 years since plant start-up. Passes gas distribution points and taps are common. Gas transportation infrastructure has no design documentation or expert examination of industrial safety.
With the main pipeline gas under high pressure is supplied by conventional water pipes, it is not designed for such loads. If something is repaired, work carried out with no experience, no licenses, Contracting organizations that use unskilled labour or unauthorized materials. The original gas valves that have served for decades, changing counterfeit of unknown origin. By the way, this is what led in 2018 to a serious accident at the ammonia plant # 4. When starting work exploded accumulated because of missed at shut-off valves 3000 cubic meters of gas, and only happilyth accident then has done without victims. Recall that every day the plant is dealing with millions of cubic meters of explosive natural gas, and in the event of an accident, this production, the consequences could be disastrous, not only for enterprises but also for the city of Togliatti.
Not so long ago ToAZ proudly reported about the release of more than 3 million tons of ammonia last year. But how this was achieved, the journalists write, to just be happy for the Volga chemists: equipment, already worn out and running on “parole” does not stop on any scheduled overhauls. As in the case of gas infrastructure, the ammonia pipelines were installed in the 70-ies of the last century. For almost ten years, none of the expert organization decided not to give a positive conclusion on the results of the technical inspection and safety review of pipelines of ammonia on ToAZ. Workers have repeatedly reported on the failures of pipeline sections, instances of them falling from flyovers, not to mention the leakage of toxic substances and acids. In 2016, shop No. 13 was a big accident with a spill of ammonia. But then the first priority of the plant management was to prevent the dissemination of information about accidents, not the causes of these incidents.
it would Seem that a crucial role in the enterprise should play in the examination of industrial safety (EPB). As found out by the media, almost exclusive right to conduct examinations of industrial safety on ToAZ received previously little-known expert organization, OOO “TMS RUS”. In this regard, a number of issues. Is it possible in this case to trust EPB whether the examination is objective and independent? Would not be allowed to enter the industrial safety examination after the commencement of works, for example, for laying new lines up to get the project?
So, in mass media, and accidents do happen on ToAZ with sad regularity, and no matter how I tried to hide it its leaders together with the local Directorate of the Rostekhnadzor, the inhabitants about them is well known.
the Desperate inhabitants of Tolyatti have finally lost faith in the possibility to deal with the problem at the local level and appealed to the Federal authorities. And they have every reason to be heard. In December, 2019 in an interview to our newspaper, the head of Rostekhnadzor Alexey Aleshin said that the Agency has taken a very principled stance against corruption in the sphere of industrial safety. “With the corruption we are fighting systematically. Conduct your inspection. Annually in the law enforcement bodies of dozens of materials on signs of corruption in our staff. After each case study carefully what technical capabilities were DOSavailable to the bribe-givers and bribe-taker, trying to exclude them throughout the entire service. Every year the number of corruption crimes decreased,” said Alexey Aleshin.
no doubt, from the inspection of the Central office of Rostechnadzor has helped to move the situation on ToAZ off the ground. But solving the plant problems were much more serious and bigger than anyone could have imagined. Residents of Togliatti believe that the problems of the chemical giant, threatening the lives and health of the population of the whole city, can be solved if they seriously undertake the Federal government.
