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1. The Far Eastern port city of Vladivostok was announced by Vladimir Putin as the host city for the 2012 APEC summit, shortly after Russia was granted the right to host the summit in September. Among the objects planned to be constructed for the summit are two bridges – one to stretch over the city’s Zolotoy Rog bay and another to link Vladivostok with Russky Island. Renovation of the city’s airport and highways as well as construction of new hotels and restaurants is also among the targeted goals. A total of 148 billion rubles ($6.02 billion) is supposed to be allotted for the summit, including 100 billion rubles ($4.07 billion) from the federal budget and 48 billion rubles from Primorye’s budget.

2. The Valley of Geysers, one of the most unique and popular sights on the Kamchatka Peninsula, was covered by a huge landslide on July 3, with about two thirds of the region’s most noteworthy area buried. The landslide affected the region’s tourist industry and closed access to dozens of thermal springs.

3. Oleg Safonov was appointed by President Vladimir Putin in October as new Presidential Envoy to the Russian Far East. Safonov, 47, took the office replacing Kamil Iskhakov, who had served in that position for nearly two years. At his meeting with the newly appointed envoy, Putin named the Far East ‘one of Russia’s most complex regions” putting fighting crime as a high priority task for Safonov.

4. Three of the Far Eastern districts saw new governors in 2007.

In May, Kamchatka’s Governor Mikhail Mashkovtsev resigned by his own will, with Alexei Kuzmitsky taking the position of the governor of Kamchatsky Krai, which was formed as a result of the merger of the Kamchatka and Koryakia regions.

In June, Nikolai Kolesov was approved as Amur region’s governor, two months after Governor Leonid Korotkov was dismissed from his position and a criminal case was launched against him. Korotkov had illegally financed the region’s football club by including an extra fee in the tariffs for electric energy, the investigation revealed.

On August 7, Sakhalin’s Governor Ivan Malakhov retired following criticism for his failure to promptly remedy the consequences of a massive quake which hit the island’s southern region on August 2 killing two and leaving about 3,000 people homeless in the town of Nevelsk. Alexander Khoroshavin, previously mayor of the town of Okha, was appointed acting governor by President Vladimir Putin and later was approved by the regional Duma.

5. As result of the merger of the far eastern Kamchatka region and Koryakia autonomous region, the new Kamchatka Krai was formed on July 1. At the referendum held previously in 2005, about 84 percent of Kamchatka and 89 of Koryakia’s residents had voted for the amalgamation.

6. Vladivostok’s city administration has operated without a mayor for ten months.
The city Mayor Vladimir Nikolayev was dismissed from his position by the city’s court in late February and a criminal case was launched against him on the charges of office abuse. On March 7, Nikolayev was arrested and imprisoned in a temporary isolation ward in Vladivostok where he spent over nine months. On December 24, Nikolayev was freed after receiving a suspended four and a half year sentence with three years parole by the Leninsky Court.

7. On August 2, a 6.8 magnitude quake struck southern Sakhalin killing two and leaving about almost 8,000 people homeless in the town of Nevelsk. The epicenter of the quake located 15 kilometers off Nevelsk in the Tatarsky Strait, left over 200 residential buildings in ruins. The total damage was estimated to be 8.5 billion rubles ($345.5 million).

8. In August, the new edition of the federal program ‘Economic and Social development of the Russian Far East and Zabaikalye to 2013’ was passed by Russia’s Government. The program foresees some 430 billion rubles ($17.5 billion) to be allotted for development including renovation of 22 airports and 13 ports, construction of more than 6.500 kilometers of roads and a launch of a new up-to-date ferry link between Sakhalin and the inland of Russia.

9. A massive flood occurred in Amur region in July, resulting from a large water discharge from the Zeyskoye Reservoir of the region’s Zeya Hydroelectric Power Station. The discharge was performed to prevent an abrupt rise in water level after heavy rains led to water overflowing the banks of the Zeya River, which flooded numerous private houses in several villages and damaged, roads, bridges and heating pipes. Some 500 people had to be evacuated from the area.

10. Vladimir Putin signed a decree to construct a space center ‘Vostochny’ near the town of Uglegorsk in the Amur region in November. The center will be built at the site of the ‘Svobodny’ space center, which was put out of operation in the beginning of 2007 due to the lack of future prospects for development. The construction of the ‘Vostochny’ center is expected to take ten years, with the first two years planned to be devoted to experimental development.