vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #598 / Special reports / Reading article...

The Far Eastern port of Magadan has been named one of Russia’s four top cities at a national contest among Russia’s administrative centers, a press statement from the city administration said Thursday.

The city made it to the top four together with the cities of Ufa, Kaliningrad and Naberezhnye Chelny in western Russia.

The contest, held by the Regional Development Ministry as a part of a national program supporting the development of municipal territories, included two competitions, divided between cities and towns with populations over and below 100,000 people.

Overall, the contest evaluated Russia’s 664 municipal territories, with a commission judging the cities’ and towns’ architecture and development.

The contest’s total prize fund for the winners is 100 million rubles ($4.1 million), the statement reported.

With a population of 107,500 and a cold climate, Magadan is known for its mining activities, mining equipment production, and engineering and fish processing plants. The major income for the local economy comes from gold mining and fisheries.