On behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation , the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia has prepared a bill that will immediately respond to offenses related to the threat to life and health of people at facilities with a mass stay of people.

The document suggests amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences regarding the imposition of administrative fines.For violation of the requirements of fire safety it is proposed to establish fines: for citizens from 3,000 to 4,000 rubles, for officials from 15,000 to 25,000 rubles, for those engaged in entrepreneurial activity without the formation of a legal entity from 30,000 to 40,000 rubles. Fines ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 rubles may be imposed on legal entities. In addition, it is possible to suspend the activity of the facility for up to 90 days.

The draft law defines for which violations the specified administrative measures can be applied. In particular, this is a malfunction of fire-fighting water supply, electrical installations, automatic fire extinguishing systems, fire alarm systems, notification and management of evacuation of people in case of fire, smoke protection, as well as non-compliance of evacuation exits with fire safety requirements.

"There was a similar article earlier, but it was applied only if violations at the facility were detected repeatedly. Today we believe that it is necessary to respond to such violations immediately.

Rinat Yenikeev, Director of the Department of Supervision and Preventive Work of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia

Having detected a violation at the facility, the inspector draws up a protocol and sends it to the judicial authorities to make a decision on the imposition of a fine or suspension of activities. Thus, if the violation is serious and may threaten the safety of visitors to an object with a mass stay of people, a State Supervision officer can initiate its closure through the court.

Now the bill is undergoing the approval procedure with the federal executive authorities. After that, changes will be made to it taking into account the received proposals.

From March 28 to July 25, 2018, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia conducted unscheduled inspections of shopping and entertainment centers and other facilities with a mass stay of people. In total, about 90 thousand objects were checked, including more than 11 thousand shopping and entertainment centers. During the inspections, more than 280 thousand violations of fire protection requirements were revealed.

Source: EMERCOM of Russia