vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #607 / Social life / Reading article...

Unemployment and poverty has decreased in the region, Primorye’s Governor Sergei Darkin pompously announced in his annual report Tuesday, revealing later that 18 percent of the region’s residents still live in meager conditions compared to those who may enjoy the average monthly salary of 13,200 rubles ($540).

Following the tradition set by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin to annually address the nation, Primorye’s Governor Sergei Darkin delivered the report summarizing the administration’s work in the Primorye region in 2007 and outlining tasks for the next year.

According to Darkin, the Primorye region enjoys many positive developments including the decline of poverty. 17.9 percent of residents in the region, or roughly one sixth, live below the poverty level, Darkin said.

The average pension in Primorye, according to the governor’s report, is 4,190 rubles ($170) a month and 505,000 retired people in the region struggle to make ends meet with it. Darkin did not mention whether the pensioners were included in the below-poverty level percentage in his report.

Instead, Darkin proudly announced that the average wages in Primorye increased last year reaching 13,200 rubles. In 2008 the average monthly wages are expected to increase to 15,000 rubles ($610), he said.

Darkin also boasted that the problem of unemployment has been resolved. According to his report, only 3.1 percent of Primorye residents are officially unemployed. He did not describe desperate situation with work places in Primorye’s villages where unemployed locals have to resort to poaching in forests and rivers to make a living.

“We do not have the problem of unemployment, we now face the problem of insufficient number of qualified workers,” Darkin reported. The problem of outflow of professional people streaming to western regions of Russia is sharp for remote Primorye. The population of the region dropped below the 2 million mark in 2007 and now comprises some 1.9 million residents.

The positive tendency with baby booms – 22,302 babies were born in 2007 which is 1,400 more than in the previous year – may be spoiled by the absence of kindergartens. According to Darkin, 63,500 children attend kindergartens in Primorye while another 30,000 are stuck on waiting lists.

In Vladivostok more than 18,000 children stand in line to go to kindergarten but only one new kindergarten was built last year. It is obvious that after experiencing all the problems connected with child raising, families may easily lose the desire and the tendency may turn in opposite direction.

Praising children programs in Primorye, Darkin mentioned that more than 600 children were given homes by adoptive families in 2007. The administration has increased financial support for such families and results quickly appeared. In 2006 only six adoptive families were registered in Primorye.

Darkin stressed that 12.5 million rubles were allotted in the budget to support families and added that his administration watchfully monitored the adaptation process. “We supervise and know firsthand the conditions in which adopted children grow in these new families,” he stressed.

He revealed that in 2008 the regional budget will be 51 billion rubles ($2 billion) compared to 37 billion rubles in 2007 and promised that social spheres like education, sports, medicine will receive enough funding.

Talking about work of communal services and road workers Darkin harshly criticized the officials who do not perform their duties well. “There are still officials who work so badly that residents in their regions remain without heating. I will not allow such situations to happen,” Darkin pronounced in a threatening voice addressing a crowded audience. However, he did not publicly reveal any names.

He further promised to keep an eye on ecological issues in Primorye and demanded to know why Vladivostok streets represent such a dirty and gloomy picture.

“Until what time we will live with piles of litter around us? Why do we live in garbage? The officials responsible for these issues should be daily fined if they fail to ensure clean streets in the city,” Darkin hotly said. “Let them come with a shovel and clean the street if they can not deal with the problem,” he added.

Darkin also promised to put order in the forestry industry. “I promise that the tigers [endangered animals in Primorye] will remain not on only the emblem of the region but in the wild also,” he noted. Darkin stressed that in 2007 two national parks, Zov Taigi and Udegeiskaya Legenda, were created in the region to preserve Primorye’s nature.

Among other high promises were the bridges to stretch over the Golden Horn Bay in Vladivostok and the bridge to the Russky Island which was chosen to host the APEC in 2012. “The bridge to Russky Island will be one of the most beautiful in the world,” Darkin declared. Talking about a renovation of the Vladivostok airport for the summit, he said that “the airport will become one of the best in Russia.” So far actual construction has not started on neither of the projects.

Pyotr Baklanov, a scientist for the Far Eastern branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, sounded skeptical about the grandiose plans. “The officials at all levels of power have been talking about APEC-2012 projects since 2007 but so far not a single screw has been put into the construction,” he revealed in a interview. “There is not much time left and at least they could have started constructing roads on Russky Island,” Baklanov reasoned.

Vladimir Bespalov, a deputy for Primorye’s Duma, member of the Communist faction, echoed Baklanov, saying he was cautious about the quickness of the words and slowness of the actions. ”The construction will start of course but I am not sure if they will build everything the governor is promising to us. Time flies, and our unhurriedness and sluggishness, characteristics of Russians, may play a bad trick,” Bespalov said.

In the upcoming months of 2008 it will be clear whether the year will become a turning point for the Primorye region, or will only bring another spiral of speeches.