vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #152 / Special reports / Reading article...

Time suffers setback

Time will be set back one hour the night between Oct. 25 and 26 to decrease electricity consumption. Throughout the country this saves 2 billion kilowatts per hour at night. It also reduces traffic accidents.

Media commit ‘genocide’ by doubting Duma

Krai Duma Chairman Nikolai Litvinov accused local mass media of “genocide” against lawfully elected deputies. The statement came after the press disputed the legitimacy of a duma that extended its term for nearly a year. Litvinov also said the Duma approved of the actions by Yury Kopylov as the acting mayor and thanked him for his courage in following its decree. The next Duma session, tentatively slated for Oct. 22, will consider krai prosecutor’s appeal, which says the duma overstepped its authority when it suspended Mayor Victor Cherepkov and appointed Kopylov to his post.

Energy prices may rise

Sergei Kirienko, deputy minister for fuel and energy, recently disagreed with Mayor Victor Cherepkov on how the city should pay for electricity. According to the law, tenants pay only 35 percent of the cost and the rest should be subsidized from the city budget. However, the mayor proposed that the money be taken from federal transfers earmarked for the krai and even directly from the Federal Treasury’s Primorye branch. If the mayor’s office doesn’t change its mind, prices for residents will more than triple, Kirienko said.

Gov. gives new passport

Gov. Yevgeny Nazdratenko delivered Russia’s first new passport to medical student Natalia Borodina, 14, on Oct. 1. This gives her the status of the first officially recognised citizen of the post-Soviet Russia.

Underpass designed

Vladivostok’s Department for Construction, Renovation and Improvement has started designing a new underpass in Svetlanskaya Street near Gaidamak tram stop. The work should be done by April 1998.

New migration plan approved for krai

Gov. Nazdratenko recently approved Primorye’s migration program for 1997-98. The document will be the framework to coordinate the work of krai’s various departments and power organs for settlement of refugees and effective use of foreign labor in Primorye.

Pallada sinks again

A ship carrying 40 tons of oil will be left indefinitely at the bottom of the Zolotoi Rog bay, leading scientists to fear ecological disaster if its hull is punctured. After cords keeping the vessel afloat snapped last week, ship lifter Epron Co. announced that it didn’t have enough money to again raise the timber-carrying Pallada, which first sank in May 1996. Epron raised the ship in August, after it sat there for a year because no one could pay for the removal.

China society forms

The Primorye Society for Friendship with China was registered in Vladivostok and had its first meeting Oct. 1. The society plans to promote economic, cultural, scientific and tourist ties with China.