vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #563 / Special reports / Reading article...

"Russians do not need to go to Egypt for diving and recreation when we have nice recreational territories in the country's Far East," Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov announced to reporters on Wednesday after taking a helicopter tour around Vladivostok's Russky Island.

Ivanov's trip to Primorye, scheduled from April 4 to 6, included visiting the Arseniev-based aviation factory Progress which produces the Ka-50 helicopters, or ‘Black Shark’, a meeting with Primorye Governor Sergei Darkin and a helicopter ride over Russky Island and the bay of Patrokl in Vladivostok.

Creation of a recreational zone on the long-time devastated military territory of Russky Island, Ivanov said, will provide agreeable recreation for Russian citizens.

"The ecological situation on the island is good," Ivanov noted sharing impressions after his helicopter trip.

Meanwhile, according to the last year's ecological probes taken by local water monitoring service, Russia's territorial waters off the Sea of Japan are considered the most polluted among the country's open sea areas. The tests revealed excessive amounts of lead, mercury, cadmium and other toxic substances showing a 20-percent drop in water quality in the past year alone. The most problematic areas are Vladivostok's Zolotoy Rog Bay and Amur and Ussurisky bays, which receive the most unpurified sewage water. Uncontrolled waste dumping into the sea by local factories and ships, as well as frequent oil spillage, further worsen the situation.

Along with the comfortable recreational zone on Russky Island, Ivanov also mentioned building large conference-halls and scientific centers. Removing military units from the island, he said, will require intensive development of infrastructure. According to Ivanov, about 4 billion rubles ($154 million) were allocated from the federal budget to that purpose.

Speaking of his visit to the Progress plant in the town of Arseniev, Ivanov stressed that the plant's management should focus on developing civil aircraft manufacturing. According to him, currently 95 percent of the aircraft produced at the factory are filling state military orders. "It is unproductive for the factory to count on state defense orders only," Ivanov stressed saying that civil aircraft should comprise about 30-40 percent of the plant's production.

Ivanov's visit to the Far East involves trips to Primorye, Sakhalin and Khabarovsk regions while Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov currently tours the northern territories. Fradkov, who heads the State Commission for Developing the Russian Far East, on Tuesday began his three-day working visit from Chukotka. "Our trip to the Far East shows that we have rolled up our sleeves and got down to work covering the territory with our four hands," Ivanov revealed.

On Thursday, Ivanov will leave Primorye for the Kuril Islands where he intends to visit a local airport, heat and power plants and a fish factory.