The director of the flower warehouse that claimed the lives of seven people pleaded guilty

And he said that he was trying to help the families of the victims

Anton Machelyuk, the director of the Novo Flore company, accused of involvement in the fire at the flower warehouse at the Leningradsky railway station, pleaded guilty.

According to the reporter of “MK” from the courtroom, Machelyuk told this to journalists during the election of a measure of restraint. Recall that the investigation came out with a motion to arrest the businessman. When clarifying the identity of the accused, it turned out that he had two children born in 2015 and 2018.

“I plead guilty, I try to help the families of the victims. We have a person responsible for fire safety, but I am the director of the enterprise, so I am responsible. On Sunday, at the time of the fire, I was not there.”

Machelyuk also stressed that the previous fire that occurred in the same warehouse was not their fault. “The fire spread from a nearby building,” he added.

The entrepreneur’s lawyer noted that his client transferred large sums for the burial of the dead – seven checks in the amount of 50 to 100 thousand rubles. In addition, his wife and mother are ill, his wife recently underwent a serious operation. Machelyuk himself heads the charitable organization. Referring to these arguments, the defender asked to choose a measure of restraint in the form of house arrest. The petition was supported by the rector of the Sretensky Monastery and many other friends and acquaintances of Machelyuk. However, the investigator stated that he was categorically against house arrest.

It should be reminded that as a result of a fire in the warehouse of Novo Flore on Sunday 7 people were killed.