vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #156 / Special reports / Reading article...

Pacific Fleet commander Khmelnov found guilty

The military court of the Pacific Fleet sentenced former Pacific Fleet Commander-in-Chief Igor Khmelnov to a five year suspended sentence after finding him guilty of stealing State property, abusing power, and forging documents. Khmelnov’s lawyer Boris Kuznetsov, however, believes the case against Khmelnov was fabricated, and claims that witnesses in the case were pressured during the investigation. A Vice-Admiral admitted during the court session that the chief investigator threatened him with arrest if he did not give testimony against Khmelnov.

Nazdratenko still laid up

Governor Evgeny Nazdratenko is still in the krai hospital after a Nov. 28 car crash. The governor was on his way to the Maisky settlement in Chernigovsky county for the opening of a new building, whose construction was paid for in part by the krai administration. The Governor’s driver lost control over the car on an ice-covered road in Novoshakhtinsky area. The car rolled into the ditch, flipping over several times. No one in the car was seriously hurt except for Nazdratenko, who received a concussion. Doctors say he will be able to return to work in a month.

Lower fares on Transsib

Travelers going more than 5,800 kilometers by rail will pay less for tickets following a Dec. 1 decision by the federal government. Officials made the move to defend interests of people who live in the Far East and Siberia. Anatoly Senchenko, deputy head of the passengers department of the Far Eastern Railway, says the current price for traveling from Vladivostok to Moscow by the Rossiya train is 1.16 million rubles ($194.2) and by an ordinary train - 924,000 rubles ($154). The old figures were 1.7 million rubles($292.3) and 1.2 million rubles ($206.8) correspondingly.

Grunts clean reservoirs

A mobile team from the Far Eastern Center of Emergency Situations recently arrived in Vladivostok to help the city solve its water problems. The team consisted of officers and soldiers serving in State civil defense units and scuba-divers from the Far Eastern rescue team. They removed timber stuck in water reservoirs and in dam openings. Colonel Valery Sukhoborov, deputy head of the Far Eastern Center of Emergency Situations, coordinated of the cleaning process.

80 percent of vodka in Primorye is fake

A report prepared by the krai’s Alcohol Sales Control Group shows that 80 percent of vodka sold in the krai is fake. 40 people die every month due to poisonous vodka. At the moment, approximately 50 wholesale companies and 100 individuals import alcohol products to the krai.