The Ice Palace in St. Petersburg temporarily suspended its activities after the concerts of rapper Vasily Vakulenko (Basta) held there. The head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova announced the closure of the arena, noting that holding events with a large number of people is now unacceptable. "Fontanka", referring to the chief sanitary doctor of St. Petersburg Natalia Bashketova, stressed that the palace will be closed until January 15.
“The situation that took place in one of the cities of the Russian Federation last weekend, when a very large number of [viewers] , was confirmed as part of an epidemiological investigation. A protocol on the suspension of the activity of the sports and entertainment center was issued, the materials were submitted to the court. This, of course, is unacceptable - in such a complex epidemiological situation to carry out such activities that put the health and lives of a significant number of people at risk ", - said Popova.
According to Fontanka, the sports complex is closed until January 15th. The Nevsky District Court of St. Petersburg has already registered materials on an administrative offense against the Ice Palace. Now the arena administration faces a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles or a suspension of activities for up to 90 days.
The united press service of the courts of St. Petersburg told about the violations revealed by Rospotrebnadzor at the concerts of Basta. It is noted that the audience did not use masks and did not observe social distance. It is emphasized that the organizers did not provide a separation of spectators and seating.
“Artem Yushev, a specialist-expert of Rospotrebnadzor in St. Petersburg, has drawn up a protocol. It follows from it that at Basta's concert at the OJSC "Sports Palace", measures to prevent the spread of new cases of coronavirus infection were not followed, namely: the audience did not use PPE; did not observe social distance ", - reported in the joint press service of the courts.
The Palace of Sports denies any violations. According to the sports complex, the application and all aspects related to the concerts were agreed with the Committee for Culture. According to the organizers, 6306 people came to the first concert on November 27, and on November 28 the event was attended by 6208 people. In total, 12,514 spectators were counted, while the capacity of the palace is 13,486.
The press service of the artist also noted that there were no violations. They claim that a representative of the Committee on Culture attended the concert on November 27 and did not reveal a single violation, and also did not draw up a single protocol.
“We followed strictly the instructions of the St. Petersburg authorities. They acted in accordance with the requirements of Rospotrebnadzor. It is fair to address all questions to them now. On Friday, a representative of the culture committee was present at the site, who recorded what was happening. As a result, they did not reveal a single violation at the event, respectively, no protocols were drawn up , - told RIA Novosti in the press service of Basta.
Earlier, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin demanded that the event be checked for violation of coronavirus restrictions and, if necessary, take administrative measures.
“We, of course, need to sort it out and take administrative measures in case of proven guilt of the organizers of the event. And, of course, neglecting the safety of our fellow citizens for the sake of commercial gain is unacceptable , - the prime minister emphasized.
The day before, the head of Rospotrebnadzor instructed the department's department for St. Petersburg to clarify all the circumstances of Basta's concerts. They took place at the Ice Palace on November 27 and 28. The head of the city committee for culture, Konstantin Sukhenko, said that they were attended by 12.5 thousand people - 6300 spectators came to the first concert and 6200 to the second.
Vasily Vakulenko in his Instagram said that the organizers of the concert complied with all coronavirus restrictions: the hall was no more than half full, there was no dance parterre, and visitors were given medical masks for free.
