INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A group of coal miners in Siberiaâ $'s Kemerovo area said Monday that they were launching a hunger strike after their company stopped
working to pay them countless rubles in wages.At least 12 workerssigned a petition revealing the hunger strike that is expected to last up
until they receive 46 million rubles ($478,000) in overdue salaries, according to a local Telegram news channel, pointing out an image of
the petition.The regional branch of Russiaâ $'s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, stated it opened an examination into
the Inskaya mining company for having stopped working to pay almost 400 employees between July and October
Regional media reported that the striking miners pitched 2 tents outside the companyâ $'s headquarters.Later on Monday, the Kemerovo
regionâ $'s Coal Mining Ministrysaid Inskayaâ $'s owner, Denis Nemykin, accepted pay off some of the wages by the first week of November
The company owes 1.2 billion rubles ($12.5 million) in salaries and taxes, local media reported, sharing a video of Nemykin meeting with
miners.Nemykin assured to pay off a few of the earnings within a week if employees agreed to draw out the remaining 300,000 metric tons of
coal from the mine, but the miners said their devices was in a â $ criticalâ $ state of disrepair.â $ Youâ $'re pushing us down a
dilapidated mine shaft to our deaths, â $ regional media reported among the striking miners as saying.Regional prosecutorssaid their
previous efforts had enabled miners to get more than 100 million rubles ($1 million) in overdue wages from the Inskaya coal mine, located
some 3,500 kilometers (2,100 miles) east of Moscow.
