Preliminary investigation of the criminal proceeding, conducted in General Department for Investigation of Crimes against the State, Fundamentals of the Constitutional Order and Public Security of the RA Investigative Committee on fire broken out on April 6, 2021 and explosion on August 14, 2022 in “Surmalu” trade center, was completed.

In the result of large-scale investigative actions conducted in the course of preliminary investigation, it was found out that I.M., the director of CJSC organizing the activity of “Surmalu” trade center and V.M., deputy director for trade organization in the company, obliged to comply with the requirements of fire safety regulatory documents acording to the Article 30 of the RA Law “On Fire Safety”, to work out and carry out the measures to ensure fire safety, keep fire-fighting systems and equipment in working order, did not fullfill these requirements.  

As a result of the violations committed by I.M. and V.M., on April 6, 2021 a fire broke out due to an emergency mode in the power supply system of “Surmalu” trade center. As a result, property worth 46 million 279 thousand AMD owned by the CJSC, 15 million 880 thousand AMD of the owners of stalls located in the trade center and 504 million 170 thousand AMD belonging to individual entrepreneurs was spoilt and destroyed.

Besides, as a result of violations of fire safety rules committed by I.M. and V.M. it was not possible to extinguish the fire that broke out in the same warehouse on August 14, 2022, to prevent it from spreading, which resulted in an explosion which caused 17 people’s death, numerous people received bodily injuries of various severity.

The explosion caused the collapse of the shopping center and adjacent buildings, various types of goods belonging to numerous individuals engaged in commercial activities in the shopping center were destroyed or damaged, several dozen cars were damaged or rendered unusable. As a result, property damage of 3 billion 579 thousand 495 AMD in total was caused to 89 individuals and 16 legal entities.

The prosecutor initiated a criminal prosecution against I.M. and V.M. according to the Part 2 of the Article 357 of RA Criminal Code.

Absence ban was applied as a pretrial measure against I.M. and V.M..

The criminal proceeding with the bill of indictment was sent to the prosecutor.