The owner of “Violanta” had received a proposal from a company in summer 2025 to improve the gas installations, which detailed all the violations. According to LiveNews, the now detained owner of “Violanta,” Konstantinos Tziortziotis, insisted in his testimony that he was unaware of the criminal negligence in the facilities that led to the death of 5 female workers after the deadly explosion on January 26.
Read: “Violanta”: Factory owner appeals pretrial detention decision (Video)
Violanta: The owner knew there were violations in the gas network
He tried to shift blame to his associates, claiming he had given them “carte blanche” for studies and work. However, as now proven with documents, the Violanta owner knew months beforehand that there were violations and problems in the facilities. A document published by LiveNews includes observations and proposals from a company made to the owner, aimed at improving the factory’s gas installations. The first document dates from July 2025!
In this document, the company outlines its proposals for the factory installations, emphasizing that some of these are mandated by law. The company highlighted that the network construction material did not comply with regulations, while the document also referenced the tanks. In simple terms, the document told him what was illegal and what needed to be corrected in the propane network. For the work, the specific company requested 32,000 euros. At that time, the cost was considered high by the owner, who requested a new quote. This was provided on October 10, 2025.
He had received a second quote
In the new proposal, the experts again emphasized that changes absolutely had to be made as there were issues at the factory, mentioning the network problem first and foremost. Although the second quote for the necessary work was 22,000 euros this time, the owner again decided to do nothing. The owner therefore knew – and in writing – that the gas network had problems and violations.
Not only did he choose to do nothing – even after the experts’ “alarm bells” – but he also chose to turn a deaf ear to the futile protests of workers about the strong smell in the factory, which was proven to be from propane leakage. Now, he appears devastated by the tragedy, trying to shift the “ball” of responsibility to third parties.
