vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #155 / Special reports / Reading article...

Kondratov awarded for FSB management skills

President Yeltsin recently awarded local presidential representative and Lt. Gen. Victor Kondratov the Order of Fighting Merit for managing a highly successful FSB operation in the Far East, according to federal officials. Kondratov also earned kudos in 1995, when Yeltsin named the Primorye FSB one of the best in the country.

Vodka heats homes

Boiler-houses in Nakhodka are using fake vodka as fuel, local press reported recently. City heating department specialists got the idea after police seized over 16,000 liter-bottles of forged vodka. The alcohol is mixed with fuel oil, and gives off more heat than plain oil.

Charity will build gym

The Vladivostok office of the US Catholic Relief Service plans to open a rehabilitation center in Arseniev and a gym for the Krai Society of Invalids in Vladivostok by the end of December. The group has provided financial support to local public and medical organizations for the last six years, and in 1996 donated 631 million rubles ($114,000) to a number of charity organizations, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers throughout the krai. Major recipients include the Dalnegorsk’s Red Cross Society, and the Primorye Diagnositcs Center, which used funds to train specialists and purchase medicine.

Russia’s prosecutor refutes Cherepkov

The federal deputy general prosecutor, Alexander Rozanov, said that the Primorye prosecutor’s office functions well within the limits of the law in a visit last week. Rozanov’s statements come only days after Vladivostok mayor Victor Cherepkov accused the Primorye prosecutor of facilitating lawlessness in the city. “Victor Cherepkov has complained to me about the local prosecutor several times,” Rozanov said. “But after a significant investigation, I think his complaints are groundless.”

Kondratov scolds krai

Primorye’s presidential representative Victor Kondratov recently said all actions taken by Mayor Cherepkov in the last few months were legal. Kondratov accused the krai of trying to destabilize Vladivostok’s power structure and of ignoring federal law. Though Kondratov said that Cherepkov’s sickness and hunger strike were causes for concern, he advised the krai to stop interfering with city authorities.

City prosecutor protests tax on city name

Vladivostok Prosecutor Yury Melnikov recently filed a protest against a July mayoral decree on taxing enterprises which use city symbols to promote their products. Taxable images included the city coat of arms, historical monuments, or the word Vladivostok. The prosecutor’s press center reported that the mayoral decree breached federal laws concerning the Russian tax system, as well as federal legislation about company logos and names.

Medical workers meet again with krai

Primorye officials recently met with locals concerned about the krai’s on-going non-payment crisis, particularly among teachers and doctors. Even though Vice Gov. Nikolai Sadomsky returned from Moscow with 28 billion rubles on Nov. 20, medical workers complained they don’t even have enough money to buy fuel for ambulances. During a Nov. 17 snowstorm, only ten ambulances out of 55 could service the city, they said.