RUSSIAN FAR EAST NEWS

May 2004

Covering the region with news, analysis and insights since 1991
Published by:
American Russian Center, University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage, Alaska 99508
Phone: 907-786-4300, fax: 907-786-4319, email: ayarc@uaa.alaska.edu
Web: www.arc.uaa.alaska.edu

Table of Contents

Features
From the Editor
U.S.-Russian Far East Activities - Export Russian water to China
New Book - Russia: All 89 Regions Trade and Investment Guide
Far East First-Hand - Amur Oblast park 10th anniversary
Industries
Fishing
Mining
Oil, Gas, and Energy
Transportation and Shipping
International Update
Politics and Legislation
Social Issues
Arts & Culture
Business
Education
Environment
Health
Media
Did You Know? Facts and Figures at a Glance
Announcements
Business Information
Calendar
Travel

Features

From the Editor - Sarah Hurst

Like the rest of the country, the Far East gave President Vladimir Putin a resounding new mandate on March 14. In some areas a small percentage of voters had the audacity to choose other candidates, but in Chukotka the verdict was almost unanimous: Putin was their man. It seems that some of Governor Roman Abramovich’s shine has rubbed off on the president, as improvements in recent years are due far more to the former than the latter. So it was interesting that a few weeks after the election, the oligarch and the president had a brief exchange at a conference on northern territories in the remote town of Salekhard.

The usually taciturn Abramovich reportedly told Putin that indigenous northern peoples would not relocate to western Russia on any condition, regardless of whether life would be better for them there. “We should take into account the fact that the sectors of the economy where indigenous northern peoples work are not viable from an economic point of view. We need to consider this and pay close attention to it.” The president replied, “You want to say that these people need state support.” “Yes!” said Abramovich. “Thank you,” Putin replied.

Putin sounds sympathetic, but will he follow up with concrete action? And is there any incentive for him to do so, while the UK’s richest man is personally sponsoring Chukotka, and, in a recent development, has even found oil there? Let’s hope that Putin still considers Chukotka part of the Russian Federation, with long-term needs, and not just a private fiefdom. Meanwhile, happy May Day!

U.S.-Russian Far East Activities

Ethical consultant sees polar parallels

There were Russian connections in Doyle’s family, too. In 1917 his grandfather went over to Chukotka to see how the revolution was going, and was thrown in prison a few times for his trouble. “There was a lot of trade between Nome and Chukotka until Stalin closed it off,” Doyle said. As an adult Doyle discovered that his father’s great-uncle was one of the last U.S. ambassadors to tsarist Russia, George T. Marye. So Doyle pursued his interest by creating a personalized degree course for himself at Reed College, Oregon, in Chinese and Siberian history, and Russian language. “I wanted to study Asiatic viewpoints of Russia,” he said. “It’s given me a different perspective.”

Doyle visited Russia for the first time in 1987, on an information tour with a small group. He went back in 1990 for a North Pacific conference in Vladivostok, when the city was still officially closed. By then he was a graduate student in international law at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. “Personally I think Vladivostok is one of the prettiest settings for a city, it reminds me of San Francisco, but not as an economic and political entity,” he said. “We stayed in a dacha that all the highest people from the Communist Party stayed in when they were in that part of the Soviet Union. We were well insulated. You could pick up the phone any time of the day or night and in two heartbeats someone would ask what they could do for you.”

Before returning to Alaska to head The Northern Forum, a non-profit organization of nearly 30 northern subnational governments, Doyle lived in Boston, Helsinki, Moscow and London. In London he helped the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development design public participation, democratic transition and environmental programs in former Soviet countries. One of his tasks was to oversee the environmental and social issues that were part of the bank’s requirements to loan $240 million for the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project.

In 2001 Doyle left The Northern Forum to set up 64 th Parallel. According to the consulting company’s mission statement, it seeks “to balance the economic bottom line with environmental and social values to achieve solid returns today and positive legacies tomorrow.” Doyle has turned down American clients who wanted to go into Russia and make a lot of money quickly. One of his current projects is to transport potable water from Kamchatka to Northern China by sea. He is advising a big consortium that includes Saudi, Norwegian, Japanese and U.S. partners.

“ China’s water problem is on a scale ten times bigger than the U.S. dust bowl of the 1930s,” said Doyle. “There are millions of people instead of tens of thousands, and they don’t have a California to go to. Eighty percent of the water in China is too polluted for use. You can live without oil and gas, but not without water. The water is going to come from the north, we have most of the world’s water.”

To illustrate his points Doyle unfurled a map of the northern hemisphere seen from above, a polar projection map. “I think every decision-maker in Alaska should have a map like this on the wall,” he said. Alaska and Finland have much in common, he believes. Alaskans could learn from the Finns and together they could assist Russia, Alaska from the east and Finland from the west. Doyle also thinks some of Alaska’s more natural partners are in Western Siberia. “The terrain is very similar. They have terrestrial oil development that is huge. The technology on the North Slope applies more there than in offshore Sakhalin. They spill more oil in Western Siberia every day than Alaska produces. Alaska’s environmental expertise could really help the Russians.”

The knowledge of indigenous peoples of the north can also be applied in many areas of business, according to Doyle. He grew up among Yupik Eskimos and spent summers in a ghost town, catching enough fish to feed his whole family. “As I’ve got older, what I learned on the river and at fish camp has become more important to me,” he said. “About time, looking at the longer view. How resilient and tough and useful the Native ways of looking at the world can be. I’ve lived all over the world, but people are very similar, whether they’re on the board of a corporation in New York city or in a village. I try and take that view in my business.”

As concerns Russia, “the fundamental goal is to try and help the Russians integrate in sustainable ways so that local people like the people I grew up with get some benefit out of what they’re doing,” Doyle said. But Alaskans aren’t the only people hoping to influence the Russian Far East. “We’d better be paying very close attention to what China is doing. The history of that part of Russia is very complicated when you look at the Chinese viewpoint. Certain parts of the Russian Far East were relinquished by China under duress in the 1850s and ‘60s. The Chinese have a very long viewpoint and don’t forget things very easily.”

New Book

Russia: All 89 Regions Trade and Investment Guide (CTEC Publishing)

This weighty reference book is not for the faint-hearted. In over 1,000 pages it details the economic prospects of – exactly as it says on the cover – all 89 regions of Russia, from booming Moscow to shell-shocked Chechnya. Each region is illustrated with a simple map, in full color, indicating the biggest cities, mines, farms, airports and factories. Then follows a brief introduction from the regional leader and several pages of statistics and contact details for local business people and government officials.

The regions of the Far Eastern Federal District are ordered by their numbers as subjects of the Russian Federation, as listed in the Constitution. Most people wouldn’t be aware that Sakha is number 14, Kamchatka is 41 and Chukotka is 87. By the way, Adygeya is number 1 and the city of Moscow is 77. The map at the front of the book shows how this was worked out: first republics, then territories, then regions, then federal cities, then the single autonomous region – the Jewish one in the Far East – then autonomous districts, with each group in alphabetical order. A handy piece of information for Russian trivia buffs, although you’ll need more than just an interest in odd facts to fork out the $395 for the book and accompanying CD-ROM.

Serious investors will probably appreciate the contact information most of all. Wherever possible, mailing addresses, telephone and fax numbers, email and web addresses are provided. There is even an email address for Russia’s second-richest man, Chukotka Governor Roman Abramovich, although the book gives no guarantees that he will reply to requests from struggling soccer teams. Other entities in the Far East investors may wish to approach range from the Luchegorsky Fuel and Energy Complex in Primorye (which is irritatingly referred to in translation as Maritime Territory) to Gold Miners Artel Tsiklon in Magadan.

A series of tables lists the main industries of each region and the biggest enterprises. The text provides a closer look, but still in a very dry format. Sakhalin, we learn, has 2,754 kilometers of paved public highway, and its fishing sector focuses primarily on “herring, flounder, hunchback, Siberian salmon, mackerel, cod, navaga, rasp, plaice, crab, squid, fur seal, eared seal, seal, shrimp, and shellfish.” Clearly in a book that covers the whole of Russia there is no room for analysis of the Sakhalin fishing industry, or related environmental issues. But Russia: All 89 Regions is a good starting point for companies that are attempting to compare the various possibilities in the world’s largest country.

The appendices will also prove valuable, as they include summaries of Russia’s tax system and investment laws as of September 1, 2003, and contact information for regional banks and international financial institutions. The format of the CD-ROM is somewhat clumsy, with endless scroll-down screens, but it does contain everything that is in the book and is searchable by region and investment project, so you can find a project in Kamchatka requiring $5-$10 million, for example. Whether this book will prove a worthwhile investment depends on your needs. If you are planning on spending a few million dollars in the Far East, checking this book first might be a wise idea.

Far East First-Hand

Birds and people migrate to Muraviovka Park

When people think about Wisconsin their first association is usually cheese, but the International Crane Foundation is putting this Midwestern state on the map for a different reason. The ICF, based in the small town of Baraboo, not only educates local people about this majestic bird, but has also developed long-lasting ties with Muraviovka Park for Sustainable Land Use in Amur Oblast. Conservationists in Wisconsin and Amur Oblast have formed the Friends of Muraviovka Park, and they will be holding an international conference this year to celebrate the park’s 10 th anniversary.

The founder of Russia’s first private nature reserve is Dr. Sergei Smirenski, 57, an ornithologist, whose wife Elena, a wildlife biologist, works full-time for the ICF. Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Sergei Smirenski began lobbying for the creation of the 13,000-acre (5,200 ha.) park. He recruited support in Wisconsin from the ICF and from the president of consulting company Global Agri-Tech, George Danner. He also worked with Noritaka Ichida, director of the Wild Bird Society of Japan. In 1994 the contract to lease the park was signed with Amur Oblast authorities.

Relations between employees and volunteers at the park – which is located about 45 miles from Blagoveshchensk - and the Amur Oblast administration are now very good. The administration has offered financial support for a power line to the park and other projects. “They invest small money and they can then demonstrate what’s happened,” Smirenski told RFEN on the telephone from Wisconsin. “They like it. It’s a lot of publicity.” The attitude was different back in 1991. “At first the local administration was suspicious, very negative. Nobody knew what democracy or a free market economy meant. Nobody could believe that it would be non-profit – they thought there must be oil resources in the wetlands. They were very angry that we weren’t asking what to do, we were independent, we had no support from the education department. We were out of their control, and they didn’t like it.”

From the start, American teachers stayed at Muraviovka Park – initially sleeping in tents – to conduct environmental education and art classes. Water was hauled to the camp by truck. Later more vehicles were purchased and permanent accommodation was built for the constant stream of visiting scientists, teachers and kids from Russia, the United States, Korea and other countries. “The Mississippi River and the Amur River are similar in size,” Smirenski said. “ Wisconsin is more to the south than Amur Oblast, but the landscapes and habitats for birds are similar. It’s agriculture, wetlands, forests and open areas.”

There are several species of crane in Russia, compared with only two in the United States. In Russian culture the crane occupies a special place. “People love this bird,” said Smirenski. “It is a symbol of long life and good parental relations, because cranes mostly mate for life. They continue breeding even when they are 30 years old.” There are folk songs and fables about cranes, a romantic Soviet war film called The Cranes Are Flying, and at least two proverbs: Zhuravl vysoko letaet, a ot reki ne otbyvaet (The crane may fly high, but it won’t stray from the river) and Zhuravlya v nebe ne suli, day prezhde sinitsu v ruki (Instead of promising a crane in the sky, give a titmouse in your hand).

Cranes are one of the most endangered families of bird in the world, however. Out of 15 species in total, 10 are on the Red List of threatened species. Many cranes, for example, have died during their perilous 3,000-mile migration from Russia to India over the high mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Another challenge is that cranes need to build their nests at an average distance of two miles from each other. “They are a very territorial species and shouldn’t see each other during breeding,” Smirenski said. Despite this, Muraviovka Park has 22 breeding pairs, which is four times the density of cranes in the best Russian state nature reserves. They produce 1-2 offspring per year. During the fall and spring migration up to 1,000 cranes come to the park.

“Cranes are an important flag for environmental protection,” said Smirenski. “You can also save other birds, insects and plants by saving cranes.” This is certainly true if the list of birds participants in the international conference in June can expect to see is anything to go by. Among them are the exotic-sounding oriental greenfinch, yellow-rumped flycatcher, jungle nightjar, Siberian rubythroat, dusky warbler, Amur red-footed falcon and black-naped oriole.

The park has also been home to a demonstration organic farm since 1997. “We decided we should stop pollution and contamination,” said Smirenski. Soy beans, grain, wheat and barley are sold to raise money for the park. In addition, 70 acres of corn are grown as lure crop so that birds fly into the park, where they are safe from poachers. As there are no organic markets in Russia, the crops have to be sold through conventional routes, for the same price as non-organic produce. Still, the farm makes money because no fertilizers or pesticides are used. “We use green manure – straw we mulch and put back in the ground instead of burning it,” said Smirenski. “The fertility of the soil is growing.” Local people are also becoming more interested in buying the farm’s high-quality seeds.

The news about organic farming spreads from kids who attend the park’s summer camps to their parents. “They educate their parents and friends better than we do,” said Smirenski. He is skeptical about genetically modified crops, which are common in the United States: “GM can destroy the family farming system entirely. It works for the big chemical industry. It’s a more obvious threat to the economy than to health. We’re trying to learn about it. There are a lot of problems for genetic diversity.”

Over 1,500 kids have participated in the 10-day camps at the park over the years, including the International Languages Summer School. Trina Bower from Wisconsin, who taught at the school, wrote in the park’s newsletter: “Once the students figured out we were here as friends and just wanted to help, nothing could stop them from wanting to know more. I always had five different spots waiting for me to sit, or another girl making me a bracelet, or a boy playing me a song on his guitar, or another question about my life back home. The Russian students want to know everything and the American teachers want to teach them everything.”

American students work very hard to raise the money for a trip to Muraviovka Park. “After coming once they come two or three times. That says it all,” says Smirenski. “It’s addictive,” George Danner added. “You’re doing something that’s really important. It’s amazing how people are responding.”

The 10 th anniversary international conference at Muraviovka Park takes place June 11-16 and is called “Only Together Can We Succeed”. Participants may join a group departing from New York on June 6 with a few days of sightseeing in Moscow before the conference. The registration fee of $670 includes all expenses in the park including accommodation, food and local travel, but not airfare to Russia or visa fees. The first $400 is due by May 15. To join the group contact travel agent Debbie Chapman, uniglobect@aol.com, tel: 1-800-601-6030. To obtain a visa to travel with the group contact Oleg Naydonov at OLNA, Inc., info@russia-visa.com, tel: 1-800-567-4175 and say you were referred by trip coordinator Elena Smirenski from ICF. Give the dates of your trip as June 1-30 as it is a one-month visa.

The International Language Summer School takes place at the park June 20-28 and the Environment Camp is July 10-17. For more information about the conference or the camps contact Sergei Smirenski, sergei@savingcranes.org.

Industries

Fishing

Vladivostok court upholds verdict against fishery

A Vladivostok court has fined the company that owns a poaching vessel 1.7 million rubles ($59,600), Yezhednevniye Novosti Vladivostok reported in March. This was unusual because usually only the captain is fined. The company, Rybak, owns the Yasnoye, which was caught in October last year with several thousand crabs on board. Most of the crabs were still alive and were thrown back into the sea. The company appealed the fine but the court denied the appeal.

Captain of poaching vessel faces charges in Kamchatka for second time

A court in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky has ordered the captain of the trawler Nesterov to be held in custody, Kamchatskoye Vremya reported in April. Sergey Chernykh from Vladivostok was arrested on suspicion of poaching in the Sea of Okhotsk. Over 200 tons of mintai (a codfish) worth 25 million rubles ($865,000) were found on board the Nesterov, which is owned by the company Novy Mir.

Chernykh also faced charges of poaching in Kamchatka in April 2002, when his trawler Slantsy was found to be carrying fish worth 213 million rubles ($7.4 million). The case was interrupted when Chernykh disappeared, and could not be found by employees of the Kamchatka Environmental Prosecutor’s Office, who flew to Vladivostok to look for him. Chernykh now faces up to five years in prison for the second poaching incident.

Sakhalin deputy governor calls for fisheries to pay back wages

Some Sakhalin fishermen have not been paid for five months, Vostok-Media news agency reported in March. “Henceforth the oblast fishing department will strictly control the payment of wages to fishermen and fish processors,” Deputy Governor Vladimir Godunov said at an oblast administration meeting. “We need to take these measures because the situation is still extremely unsatisfactory. It is worrying that at some companies it is getting worse, not better.” Tens of millions of rubles are owed to fisherman, the deputy governor added. He instructed fishing companies to submit a plan to the administration detailing how they would pay off the debts.

Volume of Sakhalin catch increases

The Sakhalin fish catch in 2003 totaled 463,900 tons, a 26 percent increase on the previous year, Sakh.com reported in April. Sakhalin companies also processed twice as much salmon as in 2002, a total of 106,100 tons, which comprised 90.3 percent of Russia’s entire salmon catch. The export of fish products from Sakhalin was worth $235 million last year. Japan was once again the biggest customer.

South Korean fish processors cast net towards Vanino Port

Investors from the South Korean Association of Fish Processors have chosen Vanino Port as a location to build a plant, Tikhookeanskaya Zvezda reported in April. The port in Khabarovsk Krai was preferred over the rival location of Sovietskaya Gavan, which the investors also looked at. The company Kokon will build a large freezer facility with a capacity of 10,000 tons for fish from Sakhalin, the Sea of Okhotsk and Primorye. A fish processing plant will be built as a joint venture with the local firm 50 Years of October. The South Koreans also hope to build a business center with a hotel, night club, casino, sauna and shops. All the projects are being considered by the Khabarovsk Krai administration.

Mining

Multinational digs for gold in Amur Oblast

The world’s second-largest miner, Rio Tinto, has taken its first active step into Russia with a deal to explore for gold in Amur Oblast, Reuters reported in March. Rio Tinto has forged a joint venture with Peter Hambro Mining to look for a major deposit at the Chagoyansk property. Hambro’s existing Pokrovsky Rudnik gold mine is about 160 kilometers away. Under the joint venture, Rio Tinto is to fund the first $1.5 million of exploration works, entitling it to 51 percent of the venture. If Peter Hambro chooses, Rio Tinto can boost its stake to 65 percent by funding the next $3.5 million of costs. Peter Hambro stands to receive a success fee from Rio Tinto totaling $3.5 million if a mine is developed.

Primorye mine goes out with a bang, then a whimper

The Tsentralnaya mine in Partizansk, Primorsky Krai, is filling up with water, Yezhednevniye Novosti Vladivostok reported in April. Since an explosion last October that killed six people, the mine’s future has been in doubt. In March Dalenergosbyt cut off the electricity supply to the mine because of an unpaid bill of 7.5 million rubles ($263,000).

Magadan gold mine shuts down

The Matrosov gold mine in Magadan Oblast will shut down on June 1, GTRK Magadan reported in April. As a result, 782 people will lose their jobs. They will be given a redundancy payment and their belongings will be shipped to western Russia if they are moving away. However, if the mine proves to have enough gold, it might be re-opened if an ore separating plant can be built at a cost of $500 million to produce 30 tons of gold annually.

Oil, Gas, and Energy

Sibneft strikes oil in Chukotka

Chukotka Governor Roman Abramovich’s company Sibneft has struck oil in the region, The Moscow Times reported in April. The Verkhne-Telekayskoe field in Chukotka has an estimated 2.2 million tons of oil, worth around $500 million. To date, Sibneft has spent 2 billion rubles ($70 million) on oil exploration in Chukotka. The new field could end Chukotka’s reliance on outside supplies of fuel.

Royal guest talks up Sakhalin energy projects

Britain ’s Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and second son of Queen Elizabeth II, visited Sakhalin in April, Vostok-Media news agency reported. Prince Andrew was there as a special representative for trade and investment issues. His goal was to raise the profile of British industry on Sakhalin and attract attention to the investment projects of BP and Anglo-Dutch Shell. Prince Andrew discussed environmental issues relating to Sakhalin oil and gas projects with Governor Ivan Malakhov. He joked that if exploration of the Sakhalin shelf had not started, the world would never have known about the problem of preserving the small population of gray whales in the Sea of Okhotsk.

BP to foot development costs for Sakhalin-5

Rosneft has signed finance framework documents with BP for the massive offshore Sakhalin-5 field, a deal which could cost BP up to $5 billion in development costs, Reuters reported in March. BP expects exploration drilling to begin this year at the field, which is estimated to have a maximum oil and oil-condensate output of more than 700,000 barrels per day, similar to that of OPEC member Qatar. A loose alliance signed in 1998 gave BP a 49-percent stake in the exploration venture for Sakhalin-5, while Rosneft had 51 percent. The initial agreement expires this year.

Sakhalin Energy bags another Japanese gas deal as project goes over budget

Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin Energy has signed a 23-year deal with Japanese refiner Toho Gas to supply liquefied natural gas from its Sakhalin-2 project, Reuters reported in March. The deal, for up to 0.3 million tons of LNG per year, is a further breakthrough in Sakhalin Energy’s $10 billion project to build the world’s biggest LNG plant on Sakhalin by 2006. Kyushu Electric, Tokyo Gas and Tokyo Electric Power Co. have already signed LNG deals with Sakhalin.

The Sakhalin-2 project is $2 billion over budget, The Times reported in April. An internal review uncovered additional costs for offshore platforms, pipelines and related infrastructure. Royal Dutch/Shell is already being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for overstating its proven oil and gas reserves by more than one-fifth, which has led to the resignation of the company’s chairman, Phil Watts.

Investment in Sakhalin’s energy sector exacerbates poverty

Poverty on Sakhalin is worsening as a direct result of massive foreign investment into oil and gas projects, according to human rights activist Fedor Konstantinov, TIA Ostrova reported in April. At a conference called “The Development of Sakhalin’s Oil and Gas Complex: Investment, Ecology, People,” Konstantinov said that the amount of money from the Russian federal government that goes to the Sakhalin Oblast administration is linked to the amount of taxes that come from investment. As increased investment is not bringing in more taxes, federal funding is decreasing. Around 13,900 rubles ($480) is coming from the federal government to Sakhalin Oblast each year per resident, which is about half as much as the 26,100 rubles ($900) that Magadan Oblast receives.

Dispute over Sakha oil field intensifies

Surgutneftegaz , Russia ’s fourth-largest oil producer, will face a lawsuit from the government contesting the company’s rights to tap the Talakan oil field in Sakha, Vedomosti reported in April. The Natural Resources Ministry plans to hold an auction for a license to tap the Talakan field and its estimated 2.3 billion barrels of oil reserves. The ministry will challenge December’s decision by a court in Sakha that granted Surgut a license for Talakan.

Surgut came in second at a tender for Talakan in 2001. Sakhaneftegaz, which won the tender, couldn’t make a promised payment, and the results of the tender were scrapped. Yukos, which later bought Sakhaneftegaz, had developed Talakan under a temporary license until it expired in October. Surgut received a temporary license for Talakan in October and then a permanent one in December without a tender, on the grounds that it came second at the 2001 tender.

Far East electricity consumers are in for a shock

Khabarovskenergo was restricting the supply of heating and electricity to customers in March because of unpaid bills, Vostok-Media news agency reported. On March 1 the energy company was owed more than 550 million rubles ($19.3 million). By the end of the month Khabarovskenergo was cutting off the electricity in various parts of the region every day between 10 am and 4 pm, despite below-freezing temperatures. The company also completely cut off electricity to customers who owed more than 100 million rubles ($3.5 million), including the Vympel ammunition manufacturer in the city of Amursk and the administration building for the city of Amursk and Amursk District.

A similar situation in Sakhalin has arisen, with Sakhalinenergo cutting off the power supply to wholesale distributor Heating Networks because of an unpaid bill of more than 200 million rubles ($7 million), Sakh.com reported in March. The shut-off affected buildings in the capital, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, including the oblast hospital, where there was no heating and the lights went out without any warning in the middle of operations, according to ASTV-Inform. In Amur Oblast’s Svobodnensky District, 13 schools have had their electricity cut off because the district administration owes Amurenergo around 2 million rubles ($70,000).

In Vladivostok Dalenergosbyt cut off electricity to a number of municipal buildings because of unpaid bills, Primorskoye Television & Radio reported. The electricity supply to city-run Gorsvet and Vladlift was also restricted, which meant elevators and street lighting stopped working from time to time. The city owes more than 100 million rubles ($3.5 million) to the power company, with another 600 million rubles ($21 million) in old debts. Dalenergosbyt has threatened to cut off electricity to elevators and street lights altogether. A court has ordered that individuals who are not paying their bills should have their computers and cars confiscated and auctioned off, Yezhednevniye Novosti Vladivostok reported.

In Chita Oblast consumers owe around 168.5 million rubles ($5.8 million) to Chitaenergo, Chita.ru reported in April. The company needs at least 330 million rubles ($11.4 million) to carry out its regular summer repairs. A military facility owes the largest amount of any single consumer, around 23 million rubles ($796,000). The combined debts of various municipal authorities total almost 26 million rubles ($899,000). Meanwhile, Buryatenergo has been cutting off the supply of hot water a month earlier than usual for the summer in the capital of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude, and is also limiting the electricity supply, Inform Polis reported. The Ulan-Ude Energy Company owes Buryatenergo over 475 million rubles ($16.4 million). The total owed to Buryatenergo is over 900 million rubles ($31.1 million).


Transportation and Shipping

Ship yard workers down tools in depressed town

Workers at the Sovietskaya Gavan ship yard in Khabarovsk Krai have gone on strike over unpaid wages, Vostok-Media news agency reported in April. They came to work but refused to do anything in protest at going for seven months without pay. There is nowhere else for the workers to go as almost all the big companies that the town’s economy has depended on are on the brink of bankruptcy or have already shut down. There are no jobs available at the few remaining private wood processing plants and fisheries. The ship yard lacks customers as ship owners prefer to dock in China or South Korea for repairs, where the work is done quicker and more cheaply. Also, the Sovietskaya Gavan yard can only function by asking for a 30 percent payment in advance to cover the cost of supplies and electricity.

Section of Chita-Khabarovsk highway still unfinished

President Vladimir Putin officially opened the Chita-Khabarovsk highway in February but a section of it in Chita Oblast is not finished, Chita.ru reported in April. The highway would connect Moscow with Vladivostok. Construction has stalled in Chita Oblast’s Mogochinsky District for various reasons. The contractors are continually being replaced: there have been more than 20 different contractors on the project in Chita Oblast alone. Some have been paid millions of rubles but have not paid taxes to the district administration. Another problem is that trees have to be cut down to build this stretch of the highway, but the authorization for this must come from the federal government. Documents have been sent to Moscow and lost in offices for years.

Private buses take over in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Pensioners in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky were upset to find that most buses are now private and charge them for a ticket, Kamchatskoye Vremya reported in April. Previously pensioners and “veterans of labor” had ridden municipal buses for free. However, the municipal bus companies have been undergoing a financial crisis and last December city authorities decided to invite private companies to take over. Some people will be able to ride the private buses for free: World War II veterans and civilians who participated in World War II, people who were awarded a medal for being in the siege of Leningrad, heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia, winners of other labor and military medals, people with severe disabilities, disabled children and their escorts, and honored citizens of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Pensioners and veterans of labor can now only ride for free if they can catch one of the 50 remaining municipally-operated buses in the city. They can expect to wait between 30 and 40 minutes for one of these buses.

Missing manhole covers endanger drivers and pedestrians

Thieves in the village of Trudovoye in Primorsky Krai have taken 35 manhole covers recently, Yezhednevniye Novosti Vladivostok reported in April. The depth of the manholes is over 4 meters and a year ago a boy fell into one and was seriously injured. Each manhole cover costs 2,500 rubles ($86) to replace, but people can only get 500 rubles ($17) for returning one. Police are searching for the culprits.

International Update

Canada

Ambassador brings gifts to Sakhalin students

Canadian ambassador to Russia Christopher Westdal has given computer equipment to indigenous students on Sakhalin, GTRK Sakhalin reported in March. The equipment will be housed at Sakhalin State University. During his visit Westdal met Sakhalin Governor Ivan Malakhov to discuss oil and gas projects.

Japan

Governor reprimands Japanese engineering firms

Sakhalin Governor Ivan Malakhov is concerned that the subcontractors of Japanese companies are bringing employees to the island who have a criminal record, RIA Novosti reported in April. Malakhov expressed his concerns at a meeting with the presidents of Chiyoda and Toyo Engineering. This is making the criminal situation on Sakhalin worse, the governor said. Malakhov also criticized the companies for providing poor accommodation for workers, which has led to an outbreak of intestinal infections. The Japanese companies need to control their subcontractors if they want to maintain their reputations, Malakhov said. The presidents of the Japanese companies replied that they would visit Sakhalin more often and keep the oblast administration informed about the measures they are taking to solve these problems.

Relations with Kuriles still rocky

Sakhalin Oblast deputies have prepared a letter to the Russian government protesting that Japanese citizens are registering addresses in the disputed Kurile Islands, Regions.ru reported in March. The latest person to do so was author Fuyuko Kamisaka, who asked the city of Nemuro to register her on the island of Kunashir, as a contribution to the movement “for the return of the northern territories”. The Soviet Union seized the Kurile Islands from Japan at the end of World War II. Nemuro authorities agreed to the writer’s “relocation” request.

Despite the ongoing dispute, Japan sent food aid to poor residents of Kunashir in March, TIA Ostrova reported. The cargo included 4.4 tons of flour, 1.8 tons of sugar, 430 kilograms of vegetable oil and 200 kilograms of powdered milk for infants. “Humanitarian aid in its existing form isn’t needed,” Sakhalin Governor Ivan Malakhov said in April, according to RIA Novosti. The aid is the same as what was given after the earthquake in 1994, he added. Since 1998 there has an agreement that Japan should provide technical aid to the Kuriles in return for fishing rights. The aid should amount to 240 million yen ($2.3 million) per year, Malakhov said. “We would prefer these funds to go into the oblast budget, but instead of the money Japan has been sending tractors,” Malakhov said.

People’s Republic of China

Chinese and Russians trap poachers

Cooperation between Russian and Chinese border guards in preserving the wildlife of the Amur River has saved Russia 37.6 million rubles ($1.3 million) in the past two years, Ekho-DV news agency reported in April. A total of 111 boats and 230 kilometers of nets have been seized by authorities from Chinese poachers in the region.

South Korea

Consul driving in fatal car accident

A woman has died after being struck by a car that was being driven by the South Korean consul-general in Vladivostok, Choi Jae Keun, Vostok-Media news agency reported in March. The accident happened at the 733 rd kilometer of the Vladivostok-Khabarovsk highway at around 10 pm. The road was poorly lit and the woman was trying to cross at a place where pedestrians were not supposed to be.

Politics and Legislation

The National Scene

(note: to become federal law, bills usually are approved by the State Duma in three readings, then approved by the Federal Council, and then approved by the Russian president; some regulation, however, is enacted by presidential decree.)

President wins by a landslide

President Vladimir Putin was re-elected with 71.3 percent of the vote in the election on March 14, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Communist Party candidate Nikolay Kharitonov came a distant second with 13.7 percent, followed by former Motherland leader Sergey Glazev with 4.1 percent, former Union of Right Forces leader Irina Khakamada with 3.8 percent, against all with 3.4 percent, Liberal Democratic Party candidate Oleg Malyshkin with 2.0 percent and Federation Council Chairman Sergey Mironov with 0.8 percent. Ivan Rybkin withdrew from the election before the vote.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) concluded that the election, while “well administered”, lacked elements of “a genuine democratic contest”. According to Ambassador Christian Strohal, director of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, “Candidates were provided with the opportunity to present their messages to voters. This was, however, devalued by the state-controlled media displaying clear bias in favor of the incumbent.” The Russian NGO Golos reported that “for the first time, many election observers faced open hostility while trying to do their work.”

Voters disappear in effort to raise turnout

Some 900,000 people disappeared from Russia’s list of registered voters in the three months between the parliamentary and presidential elections, The Moscow Times reported in March. According to the Central Election Commission there were 108.9 million registered voters on December 7, 2003, but only 108.0 million on March 14. “It was a statistical trick consciously meant to raise turnout by lowering the number of voters,” said Nikolay Petrov of the Carnegie Moscow Center. He estimated that turnout was raised 1.2 to 1.5 percentage points. Official turnout for the presidential election was 64.3 percent. Around the country turnout was highest in the less developed regions and lowest in major urban centers.

President announces streamlined government

The State Duma confirmed President Putin’s nominee, Mikhail Fradkov, as prime minister by a vote of 352-58 with 24 abstentions, Interfax reported in March. After the vote the president signed a decree appointing Fradkov to the post. He also appointed Aleksandr Zhukov deputy prime minister, Sergey Lavrov foreign minister, Sergey Ivanov defense minister, Aleksey Kudrin finance minister, Rashid Nurgaliyev interior minister, Sergey Shoygu emergency situations minister, German Gref economics and trade minister, Aleksey Gordeyev agriculture and fisheries minister, Viktor Khristenko industry and energy minister, Mikhail Zurabov health and social development minister, Andrey Fursenko education and science minister, Aleksandr Sokolov culture and information minister, Yury Trutnev natural resources minister, Yury Chayka justice minister and Igor Levitin transport and communications minister. Dmitry Kozak was appointed chief of the government staff in the rank of minister and Igor Ivanov was appointed Security Council secretary. The new government will comprise 17 instead of 30 ministries.

In the Russian Far East

Putin wins biggest vote in Chukotka, smallest in Primorye

The percentages of people voting for President Vladimir Putin and his nearest rival, Communist candidate Nikolay Kharitonov, in Russian Far East regions were as follows, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported in March:

Aginsky-Buryatia - Putin 76.4 percent, Kharitonov 14.1 percent

Amur - Putin 64.9 percent, Kharitonov 18.7 percent

Buryatia - Putin 66.6 percent, Kharitonov 17.1 percent

Chita - Putin 72.5 percent, Kharitonov 14.8 percent

Chukotka- Putin 87.2 percent, Kharitonov 3.1 percent

Jewish Autonomous Oblast – Putin 67.9 percent, Kharitonov 15.5 percent

Kamchatka – Putin 71.8 percent, Kharitonov 9.2 percent

Khabarovsk – Putin 64.5 percent, Kharitonov 13.0 percent

Koryak Autonomous Okrug – Putin 84.3 percent, Kharitonov 4.9 percent

Magadan – Putin 70.0 percent, Kharitonov 10.4 percent

Primorye – Putin 59.4 percent, Kharitonov 17.0 percent

Sakha – Putin 69.8 percent, Kharitonov 11.3 percent

Sakhalin – Putin 68.4 percent, Kharitonov 14.1 percent

Ust-Ordynsky Buryatia – Putin 72.8 percent, Kharitonov 14.3 percent

Prosecutor finds violations of electoral law

Among six criminal cases being brought by Russia’s prosecutor-general in relation to the presidential election, one is in connection with the disappearance of 100 ballot papers in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Gazeta.ru reported in March. In addition, “In Khabarovsk and Irkutsk a number of people were arrested for distributing leaflets near polling stations calling for a boycott of the election, on the day before the election when all forms of campaigning are prohibited,” said Larisa Kopteva from the Prosecutor’s Office.

BURYATIA

Evenk leader wins district election

A deputy in the Narodny Khural (assembly) for the Evenk constituency has been elected head of Bauntovsky District, Inform Polis reported in April. Andrey Turakin, 46, is also head of the “Dylacha” Evenk community organization. He received almost 68 percent of the vote, followed by Aleksandr Kardash with 23 percent. The turnout was 71 percent. Kardash was running for the second time, but Turakin was the favorite. Dylacha has a license to mine jade and leads this sector in the Republic of Buryatia. Turakin is involved in various charitable projects, including the construction of a church in Zandan-Zhuu. He also arranged to place Russia’s largest Buddha statue – with gold trim - in a Tibetan cultural center. The Evenk constituency is the smallest in Buryatia, but it was given a seat in the assembly so that the Evenk Natives could be represented.

CHITA OBLAST

Governor returns to office comfortably

Chita Governor Ravil Geniatulin has been re-elected with 68.2 percent of the vote, Chita.ru reported in March. His closest rival was O.S. Yesaulov with 14.2 percent, followed by 9.5 percent against all and 6.7 percent for V.S. Shursky. The turnout was 55.8 percent.

New district leader succeeds failed predecessors

Businessman Oleg Zherebtsov has been elected head of the Chita District of Chita Oblast, Chita.ru reported in March. Zherebtsov defeated Aleksandr Kholmogorov in the second round of voting. The previous district head, Grigory Prostatin, resigned in December “for health reasons”, but it was widely believed that the oblast administration forced him out because of his failure to cope with his duties.

The district prosecutor has also opened an investigation into Nikolay Arapov, who took over as acting head of the district after Prostatin resigned. Arapov is alleged to have exceeded his authority by participating in an illegal transaction, selling off the district’s electricity network cheaply to a company with a dubious reputation, Elektroservis. The network was sold for 1 million rubles ($35,000), which was less than the value of the electricity poles by themselves. In a separate case the district prosecutor is investigating the mayor of the village of Makkaveevo, Vilgelm Zaydel, for exceeding his authority because several buildings in the village were left unheated last winter.

CHUKOTKA AUTONOMOUS OKRUG

Administration wants people to leave

One of the Chukotka Okrug administration’s priorities is to relocate residents of Chukotka to other parts of Russia, according to Deputy Governor Vasily Maksimov, Ekho Moskvy reported in April. Chukotka was a forward outpost of the government and was developed for defense reasons during the Soviet era, Maksimov said. People were sent to work there on military projects. Chukotka is still not a place that could be called comfortable to live, he added. The indigenous population and some minimal number of service personnel might want to remain, but as many people as possible should be resettled. The last census put the okrug’s population at 53,000.

Soccer-mad kids head off to England

Chukotka Governor Roman Abramovich gave 56 children from the region the holiday of a lifetime in March, sending them to London for a week for sightseeing and to watch his soccer club, Chelsea United, Vostok-Media news agency reported. The children, all soccer players themselves, saw Chelsea beat rival London club Fulham 2-1.

Abramovich’s oil company Sibneft announced a $54 million, three-year sponsorship deal with Russian Premier League soccer champion CSKA Moscow, The Moscow Times reported in March. This will undoubtedly neutralize the criticism that was directed at the billionaire when he purchased Chelsea instead of a Russian team. Abramovich also invested $10 million recently into the financially struggling football club Okean based in Nakhodka, Primorsky Krai, according to Vladnews.ru.

JEWISH AUTONOMOUS OBLAST

Election brings back same old faces

Aleksandr Vinnikov was re-elected mayor of Birobidzhan on March 14, Vostok-Media news agency reported. In total five out of the six districts of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast re-elected their local leaders on the same day.

Prosecutor baits governor in election year

Kamchatka Governor Mikhail Mashkovtsev is facing a criminal investigation and a possible prison sentence of up to 10 years if convicted of exceeding his authority and causing serious harm, RIA-Novosti reported in March. Mashkovtsev is suspected of illegally issuing an order allowing an unlimited catch of fish from local rivers. At the time of the order, Russian government officials warned Mashkovtsev that he would be held criminally responsible if he lifted limits on the salmon catch. Communist Party member Mashkovtsev has claimed that the investigation is politically motivated, as he is due to run for governor again in a December election. The unrestricted fishing caused ecological damage valued at more than 1.6 billion rubles ($56.1 million), according to the prosecutor.

Kamchatka loses a town

Kamchatka now has three towns instead of four, Vesti Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky reported in April. At the 22 nd session of the oblast Council, which lasted for two days, it was decided that the former town of Klyuchi should be demoted to the status of a village. Kamchatka’s other towns are Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yelizove and Vilyuchinsk. Klyuchi was the most eastern town in Russia. It developed very quickly in the 1960s and ‘70s thanks to the growth of the timber industry and a military installation, but it went into decline in recent years as the wood-processing plant ground to a halt. The local administration has been fighting this demotion as Klyuchi will lose a number of financial subsidies. Russia’s most eastern town is now probably Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

The dwindling village of Krutoberegovo was merged with Ust-Kamchatsk at the Council session. The village of Mayskoe may also be merged into the Kosyrevsky agricultural okrug, but this will be decided by a referendum.

Communists reflect on grim record in multiparty elections

The Communist Party is losing its authority nationally and regionally, Kamchatka Governor Mikhail Mashkovtsev said in a report to the extraordinary 36 th oblast party conference, Vesti Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky reported in April. In Kamchatka the Communists lost the election to the city Duma in May 2003 – they didn’t win any seats – and Communist-supported candidate Valery Dorogin was not elected to the State Duma last December. The party list system brought Kamchatka only three Communist Duma deputies, Mashkovtsev said.

The governor will only run for a second term if President Vladimir Putin approves his candidacy or at least is neutral towards him, he said. “I don’t have the right to jeopardize the oblast,” Mashkovtsev added. He blamed some of the Communists’ local problems on suspended Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Mayor Yury Golenishchev, who is no longer a member of the party but is still associated with it, and is being investigated for abuse of office. Any Communist candidate for mayor in the election at the end of this year is bound to fail, he said. Because of this the party decided not to put up a candidate of their own but to endorse a compromise candidate as they did in the case of Dorogin. They will decide which candidate to endorse just before the election.

At a plenum after the conference Mashkovtsev was re-elected first secretary of the oblast party organization.

KHABAROVSK KRAI

Customs officers crack down on ruble smuggler

A Russian woman intending to fly from Khabarovsk to Seoul was stopped by customs because of a single undeclared coin in her luggage, Vostok-Media news agency reported in April. The woman was carrying the silver ruble from the late 19 th century for luck, but apparently its powers were not very effective. She was prevented from traveling to Korea and faces a possible criminal case for attempting to export an item of cultural value.

KORYAK AUTONOMOUS OKRUG

Governor wins in second round

Koryak Governor Vladimir Loginov received 37.5 percent of the vote in the election on March 14, compared with 18 percent for local prosecutor Boris Chuev, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. In the second round on April 4 Loginov won with 51 percent of the vote, against 39 percent for Chuev. Turnout was more than 70 percent. The pro-Kremlin United Russia Party decided to support Loginov after the first round. Local industrialists also supported Loginov, who headed the Koryakgeoldobych mining enterprise before he was elected governor. Chuev fought a bitter campaign to oust the governor, opening a criminal case against Loginov.

MAGADAN OBLAST

Crab scheme officials go to jail

The trial of three former government officials in the so-called “crab affair” has ended in Moscow with guilty verdicts and prison sentences, GTRK Magadan reported in April. The case against them, for misappropriating marine resources on a large scale, was opened after the murder of Magadan Governor Valentin Tsvetkov in October 2002. Now Tsvetkov’s former adviser Viktoria Tikhacheva and the former deputy head of the State Fisheries Committee, Yury Moskaltsov, have been sentenced to four years in prison, and the director of the Magadan Institute of Fishing and Oceanography, Aleksandr Rogatnykh, received a three-year sentence. They were found to have participated in a scheme to illegally sell more than $6 million worth of crabs abroad by allocating themselves fraudulent “scientific quotas”.

The chairman of the Magadan Oblast Duma, Aleksandr Aleksandrov, expressed dismay at the sentences. “They were incriminated in theft on an especially large scale – around a billion dollars,” he said. “If this has been proven then the sentences are inappropriate. Such sentences are given for domestic burglary… In our state based on the rule of law there is a principle of inevitability of punishment, but also commensurability, which is why these sentences are surprising, to put it mildly.”

The murder of Tsvetkov, who was alleged also to have been involved in the crab affair, has not been solved.

PRIMORYE (PRIMORSKY KRAI)

Vladivostok election to take place in July

The mayoral election in Vladivostok will be held on July 4, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported in April. The local electoral commission was obliged to set the date after local legislators were unable to agree on one in their fourth consideration of the matter. Deputies from the Freedom and People Power bloc, which supports former Vladivostok Mayor and State Duma Deputy Viktor Cherepkov (independent), continued to boycott the work of the legislature, as they have since it was formed on the basis of elections held in June 2003. The city council is sharply split between Cherepkov’s supporters and those of Vladivostok Mayor Yury Kopylov. It took the legislature five ballots and a court hearing before it was able to confirm a speaker, and it has not yet passed a single significant bill, including the city’s 2004 budget.

Mayor easily wins re-election against troubled rival

The mayor of the city of Ussuriysk and Ussuriysky District, Sergey Ruditsa, was re-elected on March 14 with 68 percent of the vote, Deyta.ru reported. The turnout was around 62 percent. Ruditsa’s closest rival was the head of the Khasansky District administration, Viktor Krivulin, who received 10 percent of the vote. Two weeks later, Krivulin was given a four-year suspended sentence by the Khasansky District court and banned from holding leadership positions for three years, Ekho-DV news agency reported. He was convicted of assault for an incident in August 2002 when he ordered his bodyguards to eject three sea reserve inspectors from the place where they worked, after an argument. Krivulin was also found guilty of illegally firing the head doctor at the district’s central hospital and irresponsibly using budget funds. Krivulin’s lawyers plan to appeal to the Primorsky Krai court.

On the same day the residents of Yakovlevsky District elected Nikolay Vyazovik the head of their local administration with 58.8 percent of the vote, ahead of Farit Vafin on 12.6 percent and 9.1 percent against all.

Vladivostok mayor puts price on water pipes

A total of 9 billion rubles ($3.2 million) is needed to fully repair Vladivostok’s water system according to the city’s mayor, Yury Kopylov, Primorskoye Television & Radio reported in March. Out of 750 kilometers of water pipes in Vladivostok, 550 kilometers have to be replaced, he added. Despite all the problems of the water crisis, “in 80 percent of Vladivostok homes the cold water hasn’t been turned off at all,” the mayor said.

Skinheads go unpunished for attack on Vladivostok Asians

Around 60 skinhead youths armed with baseball bats and sticks marched in formation into a hostel for foreigners in Vladivostok and attacked Chinese and Asian students from the Maritime School while shouting nationalistic slogans, Vladnews.ru reported in April. Employees of a private security agency working next to the building intervened, stopping the violence and catching nine of the skinheads. Two students were seriously injured and taken to hospital. The police arrived two hours later and arrested seven or eight people. They were released the same evening without charge.

Kopylov by name, copier by nature?

Professor of sociology Aleksandr Kuzich has accused Vladivostok Mayor Yury Kopylov of plagiarizing his work, Primorskoye Television & Radio reported in April. Kuzich’s monograph on global processes in the economy was published in 2002 by the Far Eastern State Technical University. A year later a book with a similar name was published in Khabarovsk, one of whose two authors was Kopylov. Almost half the book was copied from his work, Kuzich alleged at a press conference. Kuzich said he would take Kopylov to court to claim 6 million rubles ($210,000) in damages. The criminal penalty for plagiarism can be up to two years in prison.

Deputy scuffles with non-existent abductors

A deputy in the Primorsky Krai assembly, Leonid Beltyukov, claimed to have escaped an abduction attempt but then retracted his story, Vostok-Media news agency reported in April. Beltyukov initially told police one evening that he had just got away from some unidentified people who tried to cram him into their vehicle. He demanded that the police “take measures” and insisted that two officers protect him on his way to talk to their chief. Beltyukov said that as an important person he had a right to see whomever he liked. He then began using obscenities and threatening to get the police officers fired. According to the police, Beltyukov reeked of hard liquor. At the police station Beltyukov refused to write a statement about the alleged abduction. Witnesses who were with Beltyukov at the time said there had been no such incident.

In response, Beltyukov’s fellow deputies sent an open letter to voters in his Vladivostok constituency. They wrote: “As deputy chairman of the committee for social policy, Leonid Gennadievich Beltyukov has ruined the examination of important issues on more than one occasion by failing to appear. He is extremely unrestrained in his comments, using crude expressions. The last straw for us was his escapade with the traffic police near Zanadvorovka in Khasansky District… In the law of Primorsky Krai ‘On the status of a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Primorsky Krai’ there is article by which a deputy could be punished for violating deputies’ ethics. There is only one way for deputies to influence a colleague – by prohibiting him from speaking at sessions. Deputies have already used this method of influence on Beltyukov more than once. It is not possible to tolerate Beltyukov’s escapades any longer. We declare to you, respected voters, that we condemn his behavior and we are informing you about this in the mass media.”

Young men can now choose army or mental hospital

Primorye’s Psychiatric Hospital No.2 has been designated as a venue for conscripts to do their alternative service, Vostok-Media news agency reported in April. They will work as orderlies. A recent Russian law gave young men the option to do alternative service instead of going into the army. So far 27 men from Primorye have requested alternative service. However, according to the law most alternative service will take place somewhere other than the conscripts’ home region.

SAKHA REPUBLIC (YAKUTIA)

No voter left behind in Sakha’s taiga

People in the most remote regions of Sakha voted early in the presidential election, Vesti.ru reported in March. At a cost of 30,000 rubles ($1,000) per hour members of the republic’s electoral commission flew out by helicopter to take ballot boxes to reindeer herders, hunters and researchers. The house of a reindeer herder served as a polling station at one location, where nine people voted. They had been in the taiga since last autumn without access to radio or television and first learnt about the candidates just before voting. On the previous day they had been informed via walkie-talkie that the electoral commission would be arriving.

At another location four geologists voted. They had been out in the bush for eight months. “We’ve felt some improvements lately,” said geologist Yevgeny Abramov when asked who he would be voting for. “I hope they will continue. And that our salaries will be increased.” Only the weather could prevent the helicopter from reaching voters, and in that case the electoral commission traveled in an all-terrain vehicle. “It doesn’t matter how many voters there are, it doesn’t matter how far away they are, or how difficult this is, we are obliged to provide them with the right to vote,” said electoral commission member Irina Starostina.

Assembly speaker faces murder charge

The speaker of the Sakha Republic assembly, also known as the Il Tumen, Nikolay Solomov, has been charged with murdering his wife, Vostok-Media news agency reported in March. On October 26 last year Solomov’s wife, Irma, called the police and told them her drunken husband was beating her up. By the time the police arrived she had already died from head trauma. Solomov himself had passed out from heavy drinking and told an investigator the next morning that he didn’t remember what happened. If convicted, Solomov faces six to 15 years in prison.

SAKHALIN OBLAST

United Russia chooses new leader

The Sakhalin branch of the United Russia Party has chosen a new leader, ASTV-Inform reported in April. At its second biannual conference the speaker of the oblast Duma, Viktor Yefremov, took over as leader from Boris Misikov. There are 1,300 United Russia members on Sakhalin, but many more people want to join. Membership requirements are very strict.

Social Issues

Arts & Culture

Award-winning painter dies

Primorye painter Kirill Shebeko has died at the age of 84, Yezhednevniye Novosti Vladivostok reported in March. Shebeko fought in World War II and received numerous honors for his art including a gold medal from the Russian Academy of Arts.

Business

Chita authorities move to prevent another café tragedy

Following the explosion at a café in Chita that killed 18 people in February, inspectors closed down another 43 cafés and restaurants in the oblast capital, Chita.ru reported in March. As at the location where the disaster happened, the other establishments were found to have illegal gas equipment and no fire extinguishers. In total 250 cafés and restaurants were inspected.

Education

Buryat lecturer teaches wrong kind of business

A senior lecturer at Buryat State University in Ulan-Ude has been found guilty of taking bribes, Inform Polis reported in April. Budazhip Nimaev was given a suspended sentence of three years and two months plus two years’ probation. The bribe-taking began three years ago when a student failed an exam and Nimaev asked him to bring in an electric drill for the department of technology and business in return for a pass. The student didn’t have a drill or any money, so he gave his instructor his father’s electric plane, worth 2,000 rubles ($70). In return Nimaev gave him a passing grade.

In a similar way the department acquired three automobile repair kits worth a total of 396 rubles ($14). Another student gave these to Nimaev in return for a pass in aesthetics and design. Later Nimaev was filmed as he accepted 1,000 rubles ($35) of a 4,000-ruble ($140) payment for passes from a third student. Nimaev was arrested and kept in solitary confinement for three months before being released on a promise that he wouldn’t go anywhere. In his defense, Nimaev said the students had provoked him into taking bribes, but the judge was unsympathetic, placing all the blame on the lecturer for abusing his position. However, he took into account Nimaev’s previous good character and the fact that he had two children to support, and didn’t prohibit him from going back to his job.

Buryat students get a helicopter, but aren’t going anywhere

Buryat Aviation has donated a helicopter to the East Siberian Technological University in Ulan-Ude, Inform Polis reported in April. The helicopter is 26 years old and has been out of service for some time, but will be used as a visual aid by aviation design students.

Environment

Primorye authorities seize wild animal parts

Ussuriysk customs officers caught a Chinese driver on his way out of Russia with a vehicle full of animal parts, Vostok-Media news agency reported in March. They included 800 bear paws, and a package containing trepang, horns, furs, and derivatives such as musk glands and bile. This was the largest such animal haul in several years.

The bones of an Amur tiger along with 13 pairs of spotted deer antlers were also seized by police in the village of Mikhaylovka during a search of a Toyota Corolla, Ekho-DV news agency reported. The vehicle, belonging to a Korean called Han, was stopped at a checkpoint on its way from Ussuriysk to Arsenev. A policeman, Andrey Rekunov, was caught in Chuguevsky District in the act of selling two Amur tiger skins, Primorskoye Television & Radio reported. Rekunov was immediately fired from his job.

Timber thieves are cut down to size

Illegal timber worth $1.5 million has been confiscated by authorities in Khabarovsk Krai, Ekho-DV news agency reported in March. The timber was found in two plots in protected zones in Vzayemsky District. The culprits were two brigades of local loggers who had been chopping down valuable species such as oak, cedar, ash and lime trees. All the suspects have been arrested and face up to three years in prison. The state will take the revenues from the sale of the timber.

Timber thieves have also been caught in three districts of Primorsky Krai. In one location two Ural vehicles were found loaded with sawn-up oak. The smugglers had planned to haul off about 41 trees altogether. Oak and ash were found in another location, and in a third, a 20-year-old was caught with around 23 cubic metres of sawn-up cedar, valued at half a million rubles ($17,500).

Health

Khabarovsk Health Ministry denies illegal organ trade

Prosecutors in Zheleznodorozhny District of Khabarosk Krai suspect that doctors in the Dalmedtsentr Hospital No.1 have removed organs from dying patients without the permission of their relatives, gazeta.ru reported in April. An investigation has found evidence that doctors were engaged in a private medical practice and had created three commercial enterprises. Money was allegedly sent to the accounts of these enterprises for the receipt of kidneys and spleens. The prices varied according to the condition of the donor, ranging from $2,000 to $40,000. The investigation was launched following inquiries from relatives of some of the deceased patients. At a press conference officials from the Khabarovsk Krai Health Ministry denied that an illegal trade in organs was taking place and said they would take the local prosecutor to court.

Magadan doctors not on call

All the telephones in Magadan’s Polyclinic No.1 were cut off in March, GTRK Magadan reported. The clinic owes telephone company Dalsvyaz 27,000 rubles ($947). Dalsvyaz had sent the clinic a written warning, but received no reply.

Media

TV company hits back at Vladivostok mayor over murder accusation

The chairman of the Vladivostok State Radio & Television Company, Valery Bakshin, has petitioned the Primorsky Krai Prosecutor’s Office to open a case against Vladivostok Mayor Yury Kopylov for alleged slander, Primorskoye Television & Radio reported in April. At a press conference the mayor accused the management of Vladivostok State Radio & Television of involvement in the murder of the company’s most senior cameraman, Farit Urazbaev, at the end of March.

Kopylov claimed that Urazbaev was killed because he wanted to leave the company and work for the press service of the Vladivostok administration. According to Vladivostok State Radio & Television, the company has an official request from Urazbaev about transferring to another television company with no connection to the Vladivostok administration. “No one wanted to let Farit go, but he wanted a change in his life,” Bakshin said. “The likes of Kopylov had nothing to do with him. And no one has asked Mr Kopylov to use a cynical lie to connect himself with any events in any company.” In addition to petitioning the Prosecutor’s Office, Bakshin’s company has also refused to give Kopylov any future live radio time.

Editor goes on hunger strike for human rights activist

The editor of the newspaper Arsenevskiye Vesti, Irina Grebneva, has begun a hunger strike outside the office of the Primorye Prosecutor’s Office in Vladivostok, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported in April. Grebneva is demanding the release of local human rights activist Ilya Komlev, a 74-year-old man who was arrested on charges of attempted murder at the end of March. A man who appeared to be homeless approached Komlev on the street near his home and asked for a cigarette. When Komlev declined, the man knocked him to the ground and struck him several times. Komlev hit his attacker back and was immediately arrested by police. Komlev, who is a lawyer and a member of the human rights organization Justice and the Law, has claimed that he was beaten by police. Some Arsenevskiye Vesti readers, at least one member of the Primorye legislature, and several other people have joined Grebneva’s hunger strike.

Fairy tale upsets Sakhalin city administrators

Administrators in the city of Nevelsk on Sakhalin are suing the newspaper KTS-Gazeta over a fairy tale that appeared in it, ASTV-Inform reported in April. They recognized themselves in one of the fictional characters. The newspaper’s editor is a deputy in the district assembly, Nina Lankina. City Mayor Vasily Rotochev and her fellow deputies suggested that she should resign. “Primarily he wanted to know who was the author of the article, who had written it, and they spent an hour-and-a-half reading each section separately,” Lankina said. “This character seemed idiotic and they had a lot of other problems with the article. In the end he suggested that I should resign as a deputy.” Lankina did not resign, but the deputies are asking for 500,000 rubles ($17,300) in damages.

Did You Know? Facts and Figures at a Glance

Russian Federation

The ruble

According to the exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Russia, on the following dates $1 US was equal to X rubles: http://www.cbr.ru/eng/currency_base/daily.asp

Inflation

The State Statistics Committee calculated the consumer price index inflation for recent months at:

Economic Growth

A total of 12 Russian companies are among the world’s biggest 2,000, led by Gazprom at No.87, according to Forbes magazine’s annual ranking. The ratings are based on a composite of sales, profits, assets and market value. A company’s rank in each category is added up and divided by four. Forbes put Gazprom’s revenues last year at $19.2 billion, its profit at $3.8 billion, its assets at $77.2 billion and its market capitalization at $36.3 billion. Yukos, Russia’s most profitable company, is ranked only fourth in the country by Forbes, because of the relatively low value of its assets. LUKoil is No.2 in Russia and 184 th in the world, while Unified Energy Systems is No.3 and No.199, respectively. The other eight Russian companies on the list, in descending order, are Surgutneftegaz, Sberbank, Sibneft, Norilsk Nickel, Tatneft, Severstal, Vimpelcom and AvtoVAZ.

Personal bank deposits in Russian ruble and foreign currency bank accounts increased 47.1 percent in 2003 to 1.5 trillion rubles ($52.6 billion), the State Statistics Committee announced in March.

Sberbank, Russia’s state-controlled savings bank, announced in April that its 2003 profit rose 8 percent as economic growth enabled the bank to attract more deposits and increase lending to companies and individuals. Net income rose to 33.7 billion rubles ($1.2 billion) from 31.2 billion rubles in 2002, based on Russian accounting standards. The bank’s deposits grew 35 percent to 1.3 trillion rubles ($45.6 billion). Loans to companies grew 43 percent to 717.1 billion rubles ($25.1 billion), and lending to individuals soared by 134 percent to 123.4 billion rubles ($4.3 billion).

Wimm-Bill-Dann’s first quarter combined sales of juice, dairy products and mineral water rose 4.6 percent to 391,300 tons compared with the same period last year, the company announced in April. Juice sales totaled 103,800 tons, a decrease of 12.8 percent. In the dairy sector, sales were 12.2 percent higher than in the first quarter of 2003, at 286,100 tons. Mineral water sales, launched in the middle of 2003, amounted to 1,400 tons. The company is the country’s leading dairy and juice producer.

Production figures

Russian industrial output grew 7.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2004, the Federal State Statistics Service announced in April.

Russia produced 110.4 million tons of oil and gas condensate, or 8.8 million barrels a day, in January-March 2004, up 11 percent year-on-year, the Industry and Energy Ministry announced in April.

Russia increased gold production 13.6 percent year-on-year to 25.0 tons in the first quarter of 2004, the Gold Producers’ Union announced in April. Mine production fell 0.9 percent to 18.9 tons, but byproduct or incidental gold production increased 50 percent to 3.0 tons and recoveries from scrap or secondary production soared 250 percent to 3.1 tons. Krasnoyarsk was Russia’s biggest gold-producing region, mining 6.2 tons, down 229.7 kg year-on-year.

Russia raised primary aluminum output 5.6 percent year-on-year to 893,837 million tons in the first quarter of 2004, engineering consultancy Alumnii announced in April.

Russia boosted steel pipe output 14.6 percent year-on-year to 1.5 million tons in the first quarter of 2004, the Federal State Statistics Service announced in April. The total included 655,100 tons of seamless pipes and 807,500 tons of electric-welded pipes, up 9.2 percent and 19.2 percent respectively.

Russia increased automobile production by 23.9 percent to 320,949 vehicles in the first quarter of 2004 as compared to the same period last year, ASM Holding announced in April. Car production was up by 27.5 percent to 254,747 vehicles in the first quarter, while truck production was up by 17.5 percent to 49,487 vehicles. Bus production was down by 2.6 percent to 17,078 vehicles. The first quarter of 2003 saw low automobile production because a crisis caused by overstock had not been fully overcome.

Politics

Around 79 percent of Russians approve of the job President Putin is doing, while 19 percent do not approve, according to a poll of 1,600 people conducted by the Yury Levada Analytic Center in April. The poll also showed that 44 percent of Russians approve of the work of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, while 36 percent do not approve. A total of 48 percent of respondents said they trusted Putin more than any other politician, followed by Emergency Situations Minister Sergey Shoygu with 18 percent and Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky with 17 percent. Another 18 percent said they currently do not trust any Russian politicians.

Around 50 percent of Russians believe Vladimir Putin will be ready to pass power on to a new elected president in four years, according to a poll of 1,600 people conducted by the Levada Analytical Center in April. Another 33 percent believe Putin will try to hold on to his post. The other respondents were undecided. The poll also found that 33 percent of respondents would like Putin to remain president of Russia in 2008 and 39 percent would like to see him replaced. Around 28 percent were undecided.

Around 45 percent of Russians think Josef Stalin played a positive role in the country’s history, 42 percent say negative and 13 percent are undecided, according to a poll conducted by ROMIR Monitoring before March 5, the anniversary of Stalin’s death. A total of 26 percent of respondents described Stalin as a “bloody dictator” responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Another 19 percent said Stalin was the leader who made Russia a great power and 17 percent described him as an outstanding military commander who made a considerable contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. A total of 14 percent associate Stalin with the collectivization campaign, when property was confiscated from peasants and handed over to collective farms; 7 percent said Stalin built socialism in the country, and 4 percent described him as a treacherous politician who ruined Lenin’s legacy.

International

Around 41 percent of Russians side with the Iraqi rebels, and the same percentage believe that Russia would benefit from the United States and its allies being defeated in Iraq, according to a poll conducted by the Yury Levada Center in April. Another 43 percent do not side with any party in the Iraq conflict, while only 7 percent support the United States. Another 9 percent are undecided. Asked what forces are resisting the United States and its allies, 31 percent said “a national rebellion” has erupted in Iraq, and 30 percent said “scattered guerilla groups” are operating there. Another 17 percent argued that the country is in the hands of “international terrorists”, and 22 percent were undecided. Around 20 percent believe that “if resistance is quelled and order is restored in Iraq, Russia will only gain.”

Around 55 percent of Russians feel that the overall role played by the United States in world affairs is negative, according to a poll of 1,500 people conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation in March. The United States tends to impose its will on others, 21 percent believe, while 15 percent think U.S. foreign policy is overly aggressive and 4 percent said the United States has a negative impact on various aspects of life in Russia, from the economy to culture. Only 12 percent of the respondents regard the U.S. role in world affairs as positive. Those who view the United States in a positive light say that the country “maintains order and stability in the world” by fighting terrorism and extremism (2 percent). Another 1 percent said the United States is an economically strong country which promotes science and develops new technology, and 1 percent said the United States helps other countries, in particular Russia. Around 5 percent said the United States “is a good and strong country from which we should learn.”

Around 40 percent of Russians have a negative attitude towards NATO’s eastern expansion, according to a poll of 1,500 people conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation in April. Another 36 percent of respondents said they are indifferent to the expansion and 11 percent said they feel positive about it. A total of 51 percent of respondents believe NATO poses a threat to Russia’s security, while 26 percent do not believe that NATO’s mere existence threatens Russia, and 24 percent feel that NATO expansion does pose a threat to Russia.

Russia imported 93,800 cars in the first quarter of 2004, up 17.2 percent from 80,000 in the same period last year, customs authorities announced in April. Companies imported 72,500 cars, up 180 percent, while individuals imported 21,200, down from 54,500. About 90 percent of the imported cars came from Japan, South Korea, Germany and France.

Federal Budget

Russian federal budget surplus totaled 62.6 billion rubles ($2.2 billion), which is equal to 1.8 percent of GDP for the first quarter of this year, the Russian Finance Ministry announced in April. Budget revenues totaled 688.9 billion rubles ($24.1 billion) and expenditures reached 626.3 billion ($21.9 billion). The country’s GDP totaled 3.5 trillion ($122 billion).

Living Standards

Around 61 percent of Russians do not believe that the government will be able to achieve its goal of halving the number of people living below the poverty line in four years, and only 19 percent believe that it can, according to a poll of 1,500 people conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation in March.

Trends

A lack of sex education is the main reason the rate of sexually-transmitted infections in Russia is about 100 times higher than in Western Europe, a Swedish-Russian study stated in April. Russia has 136 cases of syphilis per 100,000 people, compared to just 1.5 cases per 100,000 in Western Europe, and the highest rates of STDs are in Siberia and the Far East. Around 61 percent of teenagers in St. Petersburg have little or no sex education.

Some 14,000 women die and 3,000 women kill their husbands as a result of domestic violence in Russia each year, Larisa Ponarina, executive director of the ANNA Center for violence prevention, announced in April. She said many more incidents may go unreported.

The number of crimes committed by foreigners in Russia increased by 20 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2004 to 12,340, the Interior Ministry announced in April. An overwhelming majority of these crimes, mostly robberies (92 percent) were committed by CIS citizens. A total of 2,555 crimes were committed against foreigners in Russia over this period.

Russian Far East

Far East real estate prices are among the highest in the country, according to figures released by the State Statistics Committee in March. The average price of a cubic meter of residential real estate was 7,987 rubles ($280) in 2003, up from 6,843 rubles ($240) the previous year. The highest average price is 20,968 rubles ($735) in Sakhalin Oblast, compared with 15,748 rubles ($552) in Moscow and 10,683 rubles ($374) in St. Petersburg. In Khabarovsk Krai the average is 11,672 rubles ($409), while in Amur Oblast it is 9,835 rubles ($345) and in Sakha 9,372 rubles ($328).

Amur Oblast

A total of 87 cows on a farm in Amur Oblast’s Tambovsky District have been found to be infected with hoof-and-mouth disease, the oblast administration announced in April. The governor ordered these cows along with 940 other animals to be destroyed.

Chita Oblast

Out of 10,000 women who registered pregnancies in the city of Chita last year, more than half had abortions, chief gynecologist Ludmila Lobacheva said in April. For 18 percent of the women it was their first pregnancy. One in eight of the abortions were performed on women under the age of 19. Around 200 15-year-old girls ask for abortions each year.

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

About 5 percent of the population of Anadyr is waiting for housing, city officials announced in March. There were 480 people on the waiting list for an apartment in March and the number increases by about 50 each month. Municipal authorities are trying to shorten the waiting list by purchasing privatized apartments, and they plan to spend 17 million rubles ($596,000) on this in 2004.

Primorsky Krai

The population of Primorye decreased by 16,000 people in 2003, the chairman of the committee for labor and demographic policy of the krai administration, Vladimir Reshetnikov, announced in March. On January 1, 2004 the permanent population of the krai was 2.5 million people, he said. Outward migration was up 4.4 percent on the previous year. It is predicted that there will be 400 pensioners in Primorye for every 1,000 people of working age by 2016. Reshetnikov blamed the migration on Primorye’s poor living standards by comparison with European Russia. He suggested bringing in workers from Asia to alleviate the problem.

Sakhalin Oblast

More and more young men are avoiding the draft, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk’s military commissar announced in March. This spring 720 men were called up for a physical examination, he said, but only 215 arrived. Out of these, only 32 were pronounced fit for military service, when the plan had been to draft 170. The colonel blamed the police for not searching homes for draft dodgers. No cases against draft dodgers have been brought in the city in the past five years.

Note: unless otherwise stated, all dollar figures are at current exchange rates.

Sources include:

BISNIS - http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/fareast.cfm
Chukotka.org - http://www.chukotka.org/index.html
Interfax - http://www.interfax.ru/?lang=EN
Moscow Times - http://www.moscowtimes.ru/indexes/01.html
RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty publications)- http://www.rferl.org/
RosBusinessConsulting - http://top.rbc.ru/english_index.shtml
Russian Regional Report
Sakhalin Independent - http://sakhalinindependent.com/
Sakhalin.ru - http://www.sakhalin.ru/
Vladivostok News - http://vlad.tribnet.com/news.html
Vostok-Media - http://www.vostokmedia.vl.ru/

Announcements

The City of Magadan's Social Organization of Invalids “ASPIRATION”

38 str. Gagarina, Magadan, 685030 Tel. +7 (413-22) 5-29-52 Fax +7(41322) 7-58-45
e-mail: wbob@mail.ru

We are disabled people from the city of Magadan, Russia. We live in the extreme conditions of the Far North and in a community which is extremely hard to live in economically. All categories of disabled persons have very little retirement income from the government. Our pensions seldom exceed $50 a month, although the declared minimum sum for survival is twice that amount.

We have united ourselves into a public non-profit organization to overcome our problems together. Now we are launching a charity action called "Disabled people are citizens of the world". We are calling for the donations we need to establish a center for social and physical rehabilitation. This center would include a clinic on the grounds of the local mineral spring well-known for its healing qualities; a gym with specialized equipment; a bus equipped with a lift for getting wheelchairs on and off, for the disabled, who for years have had no opportunity to leave the city or to visit hospitals and libraries; and such services as legal consulting to protect disabled rights. We are also looking for volunteers, and hope to find friends via the internet.

Now a few words about myself. I’ve been president of our non-profit for the last eight years. I am 42, and lost my sight at nine after a blast from an industrial explosive. I graduated from a college for blind masseurs and improved my skills for four years at the regional hospital. For all these years, my friends and I have been striving to improve our life. However, it’s hardly likely to happen without an adequate public attitude and state support.

Your kind help would be greatly appreciated by our disabled people. If there are any similar organizations for the disabled in the United States or other countries that would like to cooperate us, we would be very glad to hear from you.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Yours sincerely,

Vitaly Ozmitelenko

Wanted: English teachers for Russian villages

REAP International needs people who can teach English in Russian village primary and secondary schools. The location is the Siberian republic of Buryatia, which borders Lake Baikal. Teachers are needed for the 2004-2005 school year. REAP will organize a group, or volunteers can also travel separately. The placements allow teachers to contact each other. We need between 10 and 15 teachers. Knowledge of Russian is strongly recommended (two or more years of study).  

Qualifications: We can accept people with English language specialization or with other collegiate specializations. Those without formal English language education should have strong language/communication skills themselves in an allied field, such as journalism, general education, elementary education or extensive training in other languages. Bachelor's or above. Life experiences are also important to us, as there are many possibilities to work with the Buryat people in such areas as youth leadership, small business development, environmental management, agriculture, law and services to at-risk populations. See REAP's sections on volunteering, internships, living conditions and climate at our website, www.reapintl.com. We provide orientation materials as well.  

Conditions: Participants are responsible for their own transport to Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, and cost of the visa. REAP will organize travel. Local schools will provide housing free of charge to the teacher's preferences, either with a family or living separately; and also fuel, electricity, transport and the official invitation are provided. Teachers are paid 2-3,000 rubles per month, depending on the school and your level of education. (Daily meal expenses average about 75 rubles per day.)   The villages include local county (raion) centers of 3-5,000 people and smaller villages of 2,000 down to 1,000 or less.  

Deadlines: Interested people should contact Bill Mueller, REAP Director, as soon as possible. For the 2004-2005 school year, we want to close out the group by May 15 for travel in August. REAP International, 1109 31st Street, NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402, (319) 366-4230; fax (319) 366-2209; E-mail: REAP@reapintl.com

Business Information

Calendar

Business Associations

Russian Far East Regional Customs Brokers Association in Vladivostok works on issues related to customs brokerage business development and customs infrastructure development. Contact: Vitaly Basenko, Executive Director; tel.: (7-4232) 515-112, 414-779; e-mail: fecba@roof.ru ; web: www.dvratb.roof.ru

The Far-East Confederation of Business Women in Vladivostok promotes businesses owned and managed by women and improvement of the general business climate through influence on and dialogues with local government. Contact: Irina Tumanova, Director; tel.: (7-4232) 439-955, 436-259; e-mail: vladmmc@stl.ru. (BISNIS)

Rotary Clubs

Vladivostok Central Rotary Club. Meetings: Tuesdays, 6-7 pm at the Conference Hall of the Far Eastern State Academy of Economy and Management. Nikiforova St. 53-A-, apartment 24. President: Vladimir Svitich, email svitich1@yandex.ru. Home tel.4232-299-015, cell phone 4232-733-817, office tel. 4232-463-159. English-speaking contact Evgenia Klokova, eklokova@fastmail.vladivostok.ru.

Vladivostok Eco Rotary Club (VLADECO) is involved in numerous humanitarian, ecological, and exchange programs. Meetings: Thursdays, 6:00pm, location to be arranged. Please contact an organizer for details. One-day notification is required to attend the meeting. Contact: Alexander (Sasha) Gurko, club president, gurko@vld.global-one.ru; or contact Evgenia Terekhova, past president; tel./fax: (7-4232) 320-600; e-mail: evgenia_t@mail.primorye.ru.

Vladivostok Rotary Club. Meetings: Wednesdays, 5-6pm, House of Journalists. Contact: Svetlana Pasternak, past president; tel.: (7-4232) 22-96-98, 22-15-26 (message); e-mail: rotary@mail.primorye.ru. Postal address: Russia, 690091, Vladivostok, Sukhanova str. 1-12. Translator: Natalia Prisekina; tel.: (7-4232) 26-04-65; e-mail: russinvecchi@stl.ru

Yakutsk Rotary Club. A one-day notification is required to attend meetings. Meetings: Wednesdays, 6:00pm, Regional Museum. Contact: Nadezhda Ertyukova, club president; tel.: (7-4112) 425-260 (work), (7-4112) 253-533 (home); or contact Vyacheslav Ipatiev, past president, TourService Center; tel.: (7-4112) 251-144; fax: (7-4112) 250-897; e-mail: info@yakutiatravel.com

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Rotary Club. Meetings: Thursdays, 6:15 pm, Pacific Cafe in SakhinCentr, Kommunisticheskiy prospekt 32. Contact: 1. Alexander Vasilevsky, current president 2003-2004; tel. (7-4242)735-418, e-mail: vasilevski@sakhgu.ru; 2. Svetlana Vasina, past president 1999-2000; tel.: (7-4242) 557-468; e-mail: root@mskcom.sakhalin.su; 3.Tanzilya Ivanova, past president 2000-2001; tel.: (7-4242) 7999-51; e-mail: gestorsakh@yahoo.com

Travel

Circumpolar Expeditions (CP) can arrange charter service from Alaska to Russia. CP has been specializing in logistical support to Russia since 1991. CP will handle all air, hotel, visa support etc. to Russia, in addition to services for Russians to travel to the U.S. Contact tel: 907-272-9299, toll-free: 888-567-7165, fax: 907-278-6092, e-mail wallack@arctictravel.net, web page www.arctictravel.com.

International Travel Consultants (ITC) can arrange charter service from Anchorage, Alaska, to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin. In addition to this charter service, ITC can handle any scheduled carrier's reservations and ticketing, including SAT (Sakhalin Air). Contact in the U.S.: tel.: (907) 561-7722; fax: (907) 561-3600; e-mail: itcinc@alaska.net; contact Sakhalin-Alaska Consulting Group in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: tel.: (7-4242) 728-335.

Mavial [Magadan Airlines] provides service from Anchorage, Alaska, to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka Oblast, and to Magadan and return. Mavial has coordinated these Anchorage--Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky--Magadan flights to facilitate connections with Khabarovsk and Vladivostok on other regional carriers Dalavia and Vladavia and can also write tickets for Dalavia and Vladavia. Mavial is also providing charter service between Anchorage and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and Anchorage and Anadyr. Contact in Anchorage: (907)248-2994, e-mail: magadanair@alaskalife.net

Bering Air continues to fly charters between Nome, Alaska, and Provideniya, Chukotka. It plans to begin direct service to Anadyr, Chukotka, in the future, when the Anadyr airport opens as an international airport. Contact in Nome: (907) 443-5620, Elena@beringair.com or info@beringair.com.

Korean Air provides direct Anchorage-Seoul service. The airline also flies Seoul to Vladivostok three times a week. Connections to other Russian Far East destinations on Russian air carriers are available, but Korean Air does not do the ticketing for them, nor do most travel agencies in the U.S. (see notes on Mavial, ITC and Aeroflot). Contact in Anchorage: (907) 243-3329 or 1-800-438-5000.

Northwest Airlines provides connections between Anchorage-Seattle-Seoul or Tokyo daily, in conjunction with Alaska Airlines. Connections to Russian Far East destinations on Russian air carriers are available, but Northwest does not do the ticketing for them, nor do most travel agencies in the U.S. (see notes on Mavial, ITC and Aeroflot). International reservations tel.: 1-800-447-4747.

Aeroflothas ruled out providing direct service between the U.S. West Coast and the Russian Far East. The company does continue service from the U.S. West Coast to Moscow and then from Moscow to the Russian Far East. Aeroflot also says it can write tickets for some Russian air carriers. Contact in Seattle: (206)464-1005.

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