Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of April 1-7

Fire in "Grozny City" complex of high-rise buildings in the Chechen capital; over a dozen injured in mine explosions in Ingushetia and Chechnya; negotiations of Agrarian Ministries of Georgia result in agreement on supply of Georgian foodstuffs to Russian market; arrest on suspicion of involvement in murder of Deputy of Krasnodar Territory Legislative Assembly; three mass brawls in the Stavropol Territory, – look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of April 1-7, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Fire in "Grozny City" complex of high-rise buildings

On April 3, a fire occurred in the highest – 45-storey – building of the "Grozny City"  complex. It happened at 6:00 p.m. and lasted for about seven hours. The fire spread through all the floors of the skyscraper and covered the area of 18,000 square meters. By 25 minutes past midnight Moscow time the fire was localized; and on April 4 at 1:30 a.m. it was completely extinguished after the entire facade of the building had burnt down. Over 200 employees of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) and more than 30 units of special equipment took part in fire suppression. There are no casualties or victims of the accident.

The investigation finds an inadvertent ignition of the skyscraper as the priority version; but also considers the versions of an arson and non-compliance of the building with fire safety requirements.

According to the "Caucasian Knot", in Chechnya, both at reconstruction of many houses and in building new ones, including the "Olymp" tower, builders make use of cheap facade-facing composite material consisting of aluminium panels and polymer sheets, like Alucobond, or similar decoration systems. These panels are not only fire-hazardous and difficult to extinguish, but also emit toxic gas when burned. Therefore, in some countries, they are forbidden for use. In their turn, experts pointed out that the fire spread through the building too quickly, indicating the use of inflammable insulation made from polyurethane foam, believes Vladimir Kulagin, an expert on fire safety of one of the largest companies in Moscow. Probably, the insulation was made of poor quality materials, as the modern polyurethane foam does not burn, added a source from the Centre for Fire Safety.

On April 3, the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov promised to restore the "Grozny City"; and on April 5 in the Instagram social network he presented the options for reconstruction of the building.

Mine explosions in Ingushetia and Chechnya kill and injure about a dozen

On April 2, in the Sunzha District of Ingushetia, two landmines went up in the mountains behind the village of Verkhni Alkun, in a wooded area. The first blast wounded three soldiers; and the second one – three OMON (riot police) fighters-members of the task force that had arrived to the place of the first explosion. One of the fighters, namely, the deputy commander Rashid Ganizhev later died. Akhmed Borzov and Aslan Burtuzanov were sent to Moscow. Also, the second blast slightly wounded an OMON paramedic.

On March 1, it was reported that on March 31 in the outskirts of the village of Bamut, Achkhoy-Martan District of Chechnya, which is located just a few kilometres off the administrative border with Ingushetia, an explosion of an unidentified explosive device killed an internal troop soldier; another one received shrapnel wounds. On April 3, in the forested mountainous area about 12 kilometres off Bamut a fougasse explosion killed one and wounded three securities of the Chechen MIA.

Georgia and Russia agree on supply of Georgian agricultural products to Russian market

On April 1, a delegation of the National Agency for Foodstuffs of the Georgian Ministry of Agriculture left for Russia for talks with the "Rosselkhoznadzor" (Russian Federal Agency for Supervising Agriculture) to discuss the quality of Georgian agricultural products and export thereof to Russia. As reported by Alexei Alekseyenko, the press secretary of the "Rosselkhoznadzor", on April 2 the "Rosselkhoznadzor" and the National Agency for Foodstuffs of the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia agreed to resume supplies of agricultural products to the Russian market. Vegetables, fruits, honey, nuts, tea and other foodstuffs goods should return to the Russian market. Their delivery can start in May, said Gigi Kurdovanidze, the spokesman of the National Agency for Foodstuffs of the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia.

On April 1-5, experts of the "Rospotrebnadzor" (Russian Federal Agency for Consumer Supervision) made the second inspection of Georgian wineries, during which 35 companies were inspected. Products of 12 of them were rejected; these factories will not be able to supply their wines to Russia, said Gennady Onischenko, the head of the agency and the chief state sanitary doctor of Russia. Two Georgian companies have already received the "green light" for supplying their products to the Russian market; and 64 Georgian companies were allowed, by the outcomes of the two "Rospotrebnadzor" inspections, to present their product samples for state registration in the Russian Federation. According to Dmitry Lebanidze, Director of one such company, the wine brand "Kindzmarauli Marani" will be sold in Russia in late April or early May.

Local MP arrested in Krasnodar Territory on suspicion of involvement in murder

Sergey Zirinov, a Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnodar Territory was arrested on April 2 on charges of an attempt on Nikolai Nesterenko, the Anapa Cossack Ataman, and killing his driver Victor Zhuk. Apart from Zirinov, five people were detained; the Deputy was put in custody; no charges have been shown to him. On April 6, investigators conducted a sanctioned search of Zirinov's public reception office, located in the administration building of the resort city of Anapa, where documents and computer equipment were confiscated. Recently, law enforcement officials have also sent many requests to the Mayor of Anapa on the earlier allocated land plots. Earlier, the investigation noted that the priority version of the attempt on Nikolai Nesterenko had to do with the commercial and public activities of the Cossack Ataman. In particular, shortly before the attempt, his deputy actively opposed the commercial development of historical sites and protected areas of Anapa.

Three mass brawls within a week in the Stavropol Territory

This week, three mass brawls in the Stavropol Territory became known. On April 5, a fight involving 13 people broke out in one of Kislovodsk parks, where three persons were injured. According to the police, the fighters were earlier convicted persons and one pupil of a general school. Two victims who addressed for medical help were sent to outpatient treatment; one more person was hospitalized. According to preliminary data, a quarrel of a young man with a girl had provoked the brawl.

On April 2, the police reported that they prevented a brawl near one of shopping centres in Stavropol with more than a dozen potential fighters; 13 conflict participants were detained; and nine of them were arrested by the court.

And on April 1 it was reported that on March 31 another conflict took place near the Palace of Culture and Sports of Trade Unions, during which traumatic weapons were used. As a result, three victims were taken to hospital; however, none of them was hospitalized. 23 people were taken to the police station. The court punished 19 of them with administrative arrest for five days. The bosses of the North-Caucasian Federal University (NCFU), 12 students from there, as it turned out, took part in the fight, decided to expel them from the NCFU. The same was done by their colleagues from the Stavropol State Medical University in relation to a student who also took part in that fight. A student of the Stavropol Financial and Economic Institute was also a participant of the brawl. The university bosses said that the issue of his dismissal will be decided after receipt of the documents from law enforcement bodies. It is noteworthy that parents of three students of the NCFU from Ingushetia, who suffered in the fighting, announced their intention to challenge the order of their expulsion.