vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #147 / Special reports / Reading article...

Committee orders shooting of park's bears

Two young Himalayan bears were legally shot and killed in their cage in a city park in mid-July. Misha and Masha, popular with young children, had been living in dirty, cramped quarters for two years in Mingorodok Park after a poacher shot their mother. The federal environmental protection committee ordered the shooting after ruling that the bears were a danger to humans and that their living conditions were intolerable.

Krai's environment bleak

A recent report from the krai prosecutor's office paints a bleak picture of the environment in Primorye. Air pollution in the krai's major cities is 1.5 to two times higher than permissible by law, and in winter in Ussurisk, it is sometimes seven to eight times higher. In Vladivostok, 90 percent of untreated raw sewage is dumped directly into the city's bays. More than one million tons of toxic waste is created every year; 98 percent is not recovered. The krai prosecutor's office recommends the duma pass anti-waste legislation.

Employment service builds cushy offices

The Federal Employment Service is building a costly Primorye branch premises on Pushkinskaya Street, although it hasn't paid unemployment pensions since November. Contractors said it will cost more than 8 billion rubles ($1.4 million). Some 47,000 unemployed krai residents are waiting for a total of about 85 billion rubles (14.9 million). The minimum unemployment pension is 100,000 rubles ($17.50) per month.

Mayor's not clowning: Armed men seize circus

Mayor Victor Cherepkov has used armed men on several occasions to seize the premises of the city circus, owned by the federal government and located on Svetlanskaya Street. The mayor says the circus building should belong to the city. To enforce his declaration, Cherepkov enlisted the help of the former circus director - who was fired for financial misconduct.

Krai residents live on $140 a month

The average monthly income in Primorye was 795,000 rubles ($140) in the first six months of this year, reports the State Statistics Committee, a federal agency. Total wages owed to Primorye residents is 1.192 billion rubles,($209 million) or 530,000 per capita, as of July 1. One-third of the krai population lives below the minimum living standard.

Mayor halts road repair

Mayor Victor Cherepkov has ordered concrete blocks that directed traffic on Nekrasovskaya Bridge to be removed. Khabarovsk engineers recently completed plans to repair dangerous weak spots on the bridge's pass; the blocks kept cars away from precarious points. But Cherepkov said there is no money to complete the project.

Fleet sells ships to India

The Pacific Fleet sold two retired vessels to India recently. The Leonid Sobolev and Bashkiria went for an unreleased price. Mikhail Zakharenko, the fleet commander, said all retired ships will be sold to finance the rest of the remaining vessels.