Radio Liberty - Programs - Correspondent's Hour

In this issue:

- Karelian newspaper "Northern Courier" under the gun of uninvited investors;
- Why don’t Stavropol farmers suffer from a lack of fuel?
- Residents of the village of Gorny near Saratov are packing their bags;
- There is no one left to put out the fires on Mount Beshtau;
- Truck drivers threaten to stop Nizhny Novgorod;
- Yekaterinburg: how many weapons does Russia need?
- Tyumen: northern delivery is on the verge of failure;
- Penza: entrepreneurs line up in columns;
- Voronezh: where does the money from the “leftist” buses go;
- Arkhangelsk: poverty among diamond mines;
- Pskov: everyone can access the Internet for free

On air Petrozavodsk, Sergey Korobov:

In the Republic of Karelia, the existence of the opposition press may be put an end to in the very near future. The oldest daily newspaper "Northern Courier", which is today the only independent printed publication in the region, has become the object of brutal pressure and threats from circles close, according to observers, to the executive power of the republic. In recent months, attempts have been made repeatedly, using blackmail, to buy up the votes of the newspaper’s founders, who are its employees, and the editor-in-chief of the Northern Courier has repeatedly heard threats against him demanding that he surrender the newspaper and hinting at possible physical violence in case of disobedience. Last Wednesday, the situation escalated so much that the police even had to be called to the editorial office. About what happened, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Sergei Kulikaev: “On June 30, two well-known Petrozavodsk businessmen Davlet Alikhanov and Alexander Bydanov once again burst into the editorial office of our newspaper and, threatening and blackmailing me and the newspaper employees, tried to again persuade us to sell our shares to the founders of the newspaper. If their terms were not accepted, they threatened with physical violence. And frankly speaking, a real scandal arose, which almost turned into a fight, and the only one The solution in this situation, of course, was to call the police, which is what we did. The essence of what happened was, first of all, to put psychological pressure on the team with this impudent visit and force them to sell their shares in the authorized capital.

I will say frankly that this work has been going on for a long time and, unfortunately, not without success: a third of the votes of the participants in our newspaper partnership are already in the hands of those who want to take over the newspaper, and in order for this to happen, they need two-thirds of the shares.

There is a very high chance that the newspaper will lose its independence, the employees are offered a lot of money, some could not resist, but we are still fighting and the fight continues. I don’t have exact data that the government of our republic may be behind this, but I know for sure that the former leaders of the newspaper who now work in the government are behind this, and not without their participation this whole dirty campaign is being carried out, I will say without any doubt, a campaign not only against the newspaper, but also a campaign against those readers who trust us and of whom we have become more and more numerous lately.”

The authority and popularity of the Northern Courier among readers is undoubtedly explained by the independent position of the newspaper and the desire of the majority of its journalists to truthfully and comprehensively reflect the life of the republic. However, the new leadership of Karelia, which came to power a little over a year ago, has a different point of view on the place and role of the media. This is what the famous Petrozavodsk journalist and political scientist Anatoly Tsygankov thinks:

“The events that we are seeing today in Karelia demonstrate that executive authorities are trying to bring under control all the media that exist in Karelia. The last year of the new government’s work has more than once shown us an example of harsh pressure on editorial teams. In the republic, censorship is established on the media, on electronic, on print media and, in this case, the fight against “Courier”, as an independent independent publication, further demonstrates this. Literally from one hundred percent of our market, newspaper, information and electronic, in my opinion, there are 20% left uncaptured by the government of Karelia, everything else is already under control.”

In conclusion, it remains to add that regarding the scandal that occurred on June 30 at the editorial office of the Northern Courier, its employees sent a statement to the prosecutor of the republic. And on Tuesday, the newspaper staff intends to appeal to readers for support, devoting a significant part of the issue to the problems of press freedom in Karelia.

On air Stavropol, Boris Sibirsky:

This year the harvest took Stavropol farmers by surprise. That is, no, the combines are ready, despite the dry winds and frosts, the wheat has grown, it would seem, collect it and go to the granaries of your homeland, but there is no fuel. Minister of Agriculture of Stavropol Vladimir Garkusha said:

“I would not like to dramatize the situation, but the situation with fuels and lubricants is really very, very difficult. To confirm my conclusions, I will give only one comparison: in all oil companies that supply diesel fuel and gasoline to the Stavropol Territory, the fuel reserve is 5 times less than it was at the corresponding date last year. It is clear that with such a minimal reserve it is very, very risky to start harvesting.”

Last year, the Stavropol Territory received up to 30 thousand tons of diesel fuel from Chechnya.

“This year there is no such supply. We are not compensating for the source of fuel and lubricants with anything, no new supply. We are forced to use, let’s say, semi-finished gasoline, add ethyl and thus use it.”

According to Vladimir Garkusha, the ministry’s specialists, along with farmers, will have to fight another battle for the harvest.

“And the concept of battle includes working around the clock, working with great tension and the desire to harvest grain without loss. On the summer field, every day lost means not only kilograms not harvested, but tons of good quality Stavropol wheat.”

Experts say that this year it is possible to harvest 2 million 600 thousand tons of wheat - that’s one ton for each resident of the Stavropol Territory. Will it be possible to feed all of Russia in this situation? Most likely not. Veterans of the agricultural workshop suggest shaking up the old days and going out into the fields with sickles while there is no fuel. And you know, in the Stavropol region this is no longer perceived as a joke. Perhaps the only farms in the region where harvesting is in full swing are farmers, who spend day and night in the field. Our farmers are a people of few words and generally shy away from conversation, but the wife of one of the private farmers, Elena Ponomareva, agreed to reveal some secrets.

“Of course, we had a problem with fuel, but you know, my husband somehow managed to come to an agreement with local companies that supply him with gasoline and fuel. Of course, not in whole tanks, but enough for harvesting. You know, almost all farmers do this, it’s the state that has problems with fuel, but this doesn’t happen here, we always come to an agreement and get everything done in a hurry, everything is fine.”

The Ponomarev farm in the village of Nadezhda can be perceived as a symbol of the peasantry of the 21st century. A few years ago, when we started, there was only one tractor and a small piece of land, now we have our own bakery, 4 large grain fields.

“We have our own store. We agreed with the city, they bring us cheese, butter, and their own milk. The villagers who come buy with pleasure. So things are going well.”

Recently, farming has become increasingly widespread in the Stavropol region. Perhaps this will lead to some more fruitful results in the future.

On air Saratov, Olga Bakutkina:

Less than five months are left until the launch of Russia's first chemical weapons destruction plant, located in the village of Gorny, Saratov region. This period is determined by an international agreement that Russia signed in 1997. Participants in a seminar organized by the Federal Department of Medical, Biological and Extreme Problems spoke about how this event would affect the health of residents of the province. In the Krasnopartisan district of the region, chemical warfare agents mustard gas and lewisite will be destroyed. The plant project was coordinated with the Russian Sanitary and Epidemiological Service; all regulatory services in the region also agreed with the location of the plant on the territory of the province, the slightest accident at which, according to environmentalists, would be worse than Chernobyl.

There is practically no experience in the world of destroying chemical weapons on such a scale. In the USA, two similar enterprises are closed - they caused enormous damage to the environment. The technologies proposed for Gorny, according to the conference participants, will be tested for the first time; there were no pilot lines. Today, about 19 thousand people live in the Krasnopartizansky district; they suffer from cancer and endocrine diseases 20% more often than other residents of the region, but doctors do not connect this with local chemical weapons warehouses, because 3 tons of pesticides are still stored in Gorny, three enterprises pollute water and soil. The water that local residents drink does not meet any GOST standards, while the staff of doctors is only 65% ​​staffed. According to social surveys, already 6% of Gorny residents intend to leave the village today in connection with the construction of the plant, and another 15 have serious concerns about the future production. By the end of the year, the first 400 tons of toxic substances must be destroyed, otherwise Russia will face international sanctions. But due to poor funding, construction is slow. The dangerous enterprise in Gorny will operate for two and a half years, then, according to international agreement, it must be destroyed. However, at the conference the question of further repurposing the facility was raised.

On air Pyatigorsk, Alexander Yakovenko:

Fire services warn: the hottest season in the literal sense of the word is now beginning, but the authorities are in no hurry to support the initiative of fire services to prevent fires in certain places. The head of the second detachment of the State Fire Service of Pyatigorsk, Yuri Bryukhanov, says:

“According to the resolution of the administration of the Stavropol Territory and the city of Pyatigorsk, enterprises were asked to organize voluntary fire brigades and equip them with everything necessary to extinguish forest fires. But this issue remains unfulfilled; no one wants to implement it.”

In mid-April in Moscow, the Minister of Internal Affairs signed an order to reduce the number of fire brigades by 15%. In the Caucasian Mineral Waters region, 60 people have already been laid off - that’s an entire fire department. If last year it was possible to gather 70 people to extinguish large outbreaks in the region, then this year - at most 9. And again Yuri Bryukhanov:

“So it turns out that if there are fires, then these 5-6 people who will have to extinguish them will have to extinguish them. I contacted the department of civil defense and emergency situations, they say: our area must be at least 20 hectares, then we will declare an emergency. It turns out that until there are 20, no one will extinguish.”

The adopted resolution of the administration of Caucasian Mineral Waters recommended that city authorities allocate funds to ensure fire safety measures. However, the recommendations are not a guide to action; none of the budgets of resort cities include the corresponding expenses. Meanwhile, according to forestry legislation, these forests do not belong to forestry enterprises, but are municipal property. It is worth remembering last year’s fires on Mount Beshtau - in October, due to severe drought, relict forests covering an area of ​​several hectares caught fire and were extinguished for several weeks. This is what Nikolai Sukhorukov, deputy chief of the Pyatigorsk fire department, who arrived at the scene of the events, said then:

“Fire extinguishing is carried out by almost all fire departments of the Kamingrouppa and the military units located here are also involved. The characteristics of the fire are ground fire, leaves and dead wood burn and spread in different directions, which is why such large forces are concentrated.”

But during the hot period, not only forests burn, but also businesses, houses and personal property of citizens. This year alone, the number of fires increased by 12%, the number of victims increased 3 times, and material damage in the first 6 months exceeded last year’s figure. The firefighters shrug their shoulders - no one is going to deal with their problems.

On the air Veliky Novgorod, Aelita Toshkina:

If you come to the territory of the Kolos gardening partnership on a sunny day, tears will flow from your eyes - the vegetable gardens of Novgorod residents sparkle like Christmas tree decorations, the small glass sparkles so much. The author of the glass work is the head of the site of the municipal economic site "Tsirkoriy" Alexander Popovich, who himself is one of the owners of the site in the partnership. Deciding to improve the road for his car, in the winter he began removing glass sludge from the enterprise, that is, what remains from fluorescent lamps, which are known to contain mercury. He really made the road in the partnership dense, the layer of broken glass is 20 centimeters. True, still fearing for his health, he decided not to bring the glass road to his site a few meters away. The gardeners who showed up in March were amazed: what a miracle the road is, and even crunches underfoot. The most inquisitive and patient began to collect up to 10 kilograms of aluminum caps per day, asking each other a rhetorical question: how many cars of broken glass did they need to bring here? Spring waters aggravated the situation, washed out the road and carried glass sludge to areas. Glass can be found everywhere, even in ditches filled with water.

The most hardworking gardeners were horrified and were the first to sound the alarm. There was a strange taste in the mouth, weakness, headache, nausea. The Novgorod Interdistrict State Committee for Environmental Protection confirmed the fears; it turns out that the fluorescent lamps were not completely demercurized, the mercury content exceeded the maximum permissible norm by 4 times.

Because the waste from the environmental enterprise "Mercury" was not taken to a specially designated place and harm was caused to the environment, punitive measures were taken: the head of the enterprise "Mercury", glassmaker Alexander Popovich, was fired from his job, and a fine of 10 minimum wages was imposed on the chief engineer Sergei Viktorov. However, this did not make life any easier for the affected vegetable garden owners in the Kolos partnership: just as the territory shone with mercury glass, it still glistens. Measures to remove glass sludge and demercurize the plots were not taken even after the second warning from the Mercury enterprise, but the gardeners are determined and will fight to the end for their rights. No one is going to give up their plots, because many have spent more than 15 years working on this land. Together with the interdistrict committee for environmental protection, members of the Kolos vegetable gardening partnership intend to appeal to the prosecutor's office.

On the air Nizhny Novgorod, Oleg Rodin:

On July 1, a single tax on imputed income came into force, which has already caused protests from Nizhny Novgorod entrepreneurs. In several areas, market traders even tried to go on strike and did not go out to trade. The tax is considered excessively high and not related to the real income of entrepreneurs, but it is intended to ease the authorities’ worries about budget revenues, so there are no plans to cancel it. However, protests begin that are so serious that they can only be compared to miners’ blockades of railway lines. In Nizhny Novgorod, traffic was paralyzed on one of the main transport arteries of the city - on Belinsky Street. Drivers of heavy vehicles blocked the road to protest what they considered to be an excessively high tax on imputed income.

“This is practically an impossible tax, that is, the imputed tax should be 150, 200 maximum, but not one and a half to two thousand.”

The independent union of truck drivers believes that the amount of the single tax does not correspond to the earnings of drivers and can nullify their activities. A letter was sent to Governor Sklyarov asking the following questions: based on what calculations was the basic profitability determined at 3 thousand 500 rubles per month? What costs and to what extent were taken into account? How was depreciation taken into account for various vehicles? How were the types and sizes of truck bodies taken into account? How was the demand for freight transportation determined depending on the seasonality of freight flows? The authorities ignored the drivers' protest, although warnings were sent to the city and regional authorities.

“They gathered here, they knew about it in the administration, they knew about it in the department, everyone knew about it that the drivers would come here today. Has anyone come from the administration? So, the only option is to block the roads, let cars leave and trucks stand. They stand for two or three days, let a thousand people gather, they will block two highways - Moscow and Kazan, and that will be good.”

The threat to block federal highways is serious; drivers and their trucks on the roads are not miners with helmets on the rails or on the Gorbaty Bridge.

“In our city we have three and a half thousand entrepreneurial drivers who have licenses, the least of which is two-thirds of heavy vehicles. Can you imagine, if you put the cars in a row, how much it will be? We will close the entire city, we will close all the streets.”

Here’s what Vladimir Bulanov, Director of the Entrepreneurship Support Department, says:

“We do not exclude such a possibility, and whoever thought could be mistaken in this.”

But if the protests do not lead to the abolition or reduction of the new tax, the drivers intend to work in such a way as to avoid this tax, there are real ways for this, and then the budget will not be replenished, but may become completely thin.

On air Ekaterinburg, Sergey Kuznetsov:

The first Ural arms exhibition "Uralexpoarm-99", according to the organizers, was clearly a success. On the other hand, according to observers and journalists, it clearly demonstrated the fact that the military-industrial enterprises themselves, designers, developers and scientists directly link their prosperity with the need for the speedy adoption of the Russian military doctrine, the question of the existence of which literally took the main organizers of the Ural arms exhibition by surprise.

“We’re just such a people, I’ll tell you, we don’t have a doctrine, but if something happens, we’ll get together and win. It’s not to say that there’s no doctrine, and I know that a direction that represents a very serious prospect has received very serious funding, and these directions are being financed. That is, deep down, as if internally, this doctrine has already been realized, that is, it is not formalized in some ready-made form and has not been publicly approved by the president.”

Governor of the Sverdlovsk region Eduard Rossel stated on the eve of the opening of the exhibition. The head of the Main Armored Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Colonel General Sergei Mayev, spoke even more clearly on this topic:

“It is impossible to raise the question that there is no defense doctrine or military doctrine. There are plans for the use of armed forces to defend our state, they were approved by the government, our Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and a weapons system is being created under these plans.”

Nikolai Semikhatov, a famous designer of sea-based missiles who worked at NPO Avtomatika for over 40 years, and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has a completely different assessment of the lack of clear, clearly formulated provisions of Russia’s military doctrine:

“This has a catastrophically bad effect on us, because the weapons that we have made are all for special forces. And I am sure that no one will fight with atomic weapons. Today, if by chance some missile with a simple charge hits us, then Russia has nothing to respond with - we don’t have an intercontinental missile that could be fired with a simple charge.”

Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Russia, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Nikolai Semikhatov believes. An even more disappointing assessment of the current situation is given by Aleksey Zakharov, Candidate of Technical Sciences, who worked for over 15 years in the design bureaus of Mikoyan and Sukhoi and participated in the design of the world-famous MIG-29 and SU-27 fighters:

“Unfortunately, we do not have a doctrine as such, and never had one, so to assume that we need everything of the best quality and more than all other countries in the world is not a doctrine, it is imperial ambitions combined with capricious sentiments.”

According to designer Alexei Zakharov, the lack of a military doctrine, and therefore the lack of clarity in the priority areas for the design of military equipment and weapons, puts current Russian developers in a very difficult position.

“Our design bureaus, which might be willing to take the risk of investing in development, but they cannot invest money in the development of something that their army does not need. All the talk that it is possible to do purely export development is a bluff. Just as foreign investors will not come to Russia until the Russians themselves begin to invest money in our industry, in the same way, not a single foreign army will actually buy from us a single serious type of weapon that will not be ordered by its own state. And in the absence of this, factories start up in the current economic situation at their own peril and risk, even moral... yes, but at least let them say: yes, you do it, this is what we need now. People should know that the state needs what they are doing.”

According to Alexei Zakharov, today it is necessary to develop simple and cheap models of military equipment that would be accessible to the extremely poor Russian army, effective in waging local wars and competitive in the global arms market.

On the air Tyumen, Alex Neymirov:

The peak of the flood in the Tyumen region has passed, the high water began to recede, and along with it, the chances of Tyumen rivermen for successful navigation began to decrease. The fact is that in June-July, heavy caravans of barges with cargo for oil workers, gas workers and geologists can freely make their way to the upper reaches of the rivers flowing into the Ob and Taz bays. But the authorities of the autonomous okrugs, the main consignees, did not make the necessary applications and payments on time, which means that time was lost. In the best case, construction materials, oil and gas equipment and food will begin to be transported in late summer or early autumn, when the rivers become shallow and ships will have to be filled halfway. At worst, the most necessary things will be delivered to northern cities and towns by winter road or by air, paying exorbitant prices. Mily Zakon, General Director of the Tyumen River Port Joint Stock Company, says:

“This year we practically lost more than a month, well, we started working on northern deliveries almost in June, sent about 10 thousand tons, processed 25 thousand tons. These figures, of course, are less than possible if we had ideal loads.”

In the 80s, when oil and gas fields were actively being developed, the annual cargo turnover of the Tyumen river port reached 3 million tons, then, according to Viktor Vedernikov, dispatchers could not take their ears off the radio or telephone, and today the chief dispatcher is forced to state that:

“Well, today we have 3 ships in motion from our port, they are in Salekhard, Khanty-Mansiysk and Berezovoy, the rest are still here awaiting loading and unloading operations. There is practically no traffic, everything is at a standstill, due to the lack of cargo flows in the north and in all directions.”

The delivery of goods to the North is considered a matter of national importance; the corresponding government decree adopted in April of this year ordered “the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which include regions of the Far North and equivalent areas, to conclude, as soon as possible, contracts with river shipping companies for the transportation of petroleum products and coal along small and rapidly shallowing rivers.” Today, Tyumen river workers confirm the opposite. Captain Pavel Usmanovsky says:

“Compared to previous years, the river has become extinct, this is especially evident this year, that the fleet has practically disappeared. Only merchants who sell products sail along the river, and very rarely there are ships carrying construction cargo. No money - no cargo, no cargo, which means we have no work.”

Recently, through the media, Deputy Minister of Transport Nikolai Smirnov announced the allocation of 2 billion rubles for northern deliveries. The Tyumen river port hopes that this money will not be late.

On air Penza, Ivan Mikhailov:

Early in the morning, representatives of small businesses trading here gathered on the square of the Central Market of the Penza Region to express their protest about rising taxes. After a short gathering, an orderly column of stall owners set off through the city streets to the building of the government of the Penza region. But after standing at the foot of the monument to the leader of the world proletariat for several minutes, the protesters decided to go to the regional administration. Approaching the mayor's office, the entrepreneurs, without hesitation, entered the so-called Great Hall, where they outlined their demands to the chairman of the consumer market committee, Larisa Lavrentieva. Entrepreneur Vladimir Ageikin:

“Our questions are as follows: the first is that when we switched to an imputed tax, there was no talk about the inflation rate in the resolution adopted by our regional government. Now a completely different instruction is being taken, which radically changes.”

- Accepted by whom?

“We are not given information about who is accepting this - we are presented with a fait accompli, we must pay. The second reason we have gathered here: the tax on an individual trading on the market is interpreted here arbitrarily. They can treat it as two individuals, as one individual and, accordingly, the amount from which inflation takes this tax changes. Naturally, if it were the amount of 400 rubles and 21% from it, this is one figure, but if the amount is 4 thousand and 21% from it - this is a completely different figure. This will be recalculated quarterly, which means this figure will constantly increase."

“There is no most important thing - confidence... there is absolutely no confidence, why every day... that they come up with something new. First they say one thing, another, a third. Will there ever be normal peace?”

Particular excitement was caused by the appearance of the mayor of Penza, Alexander Kalashnikov, in the hall filled with five hundred walkers.

“We will do everything that is possible in a legal direction, we will discuss everything. We will sign all the letters, I will personally sign these letters and send them to the government and administration of the Penza region. I do not have the right to cancel the decision of the legislative assembly of the Penza region, I simply do not have such powers, my dears.”

“If you didn’t accept, Alexander Serafimovich... if you didn’t accept the inflation coefficient - good, and the rest of the coefficients - decreasing, increasing, the city accepted or who? Why is the central market, why are these two and a half square meters of asphalt the most expensive land in the world? It seems that there is not asphalt there, but gold tiles. Why? Okay, don’t think about us, think about the residents of the city. The majority of people dress in our markets, because people don’t have money for expensive junk in stores. And we will be forced to raise prices. Again, you take taxes from us, give them back, and we pay them back to you - what is all this for?

The attitude of the director of the Central Market, Vadim Supikov, who came to the mayor’s office together with the entrepreneurs, is very indicative of the current events.

“The burden of taxes that has fallen on entrepreneurs trading in our market is already critical. That is, it is time to think about gradually lowering these taxes to some level. The central market is the largest tax base in the Penza region. It is impossible to disperse such a tax base now.”

Literally the next day after the events in the mayor's office, the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Penza region assembled a board. It was noted in the speeches that the share of small business representatives among the working-age population of the region is relatively small - 13%, and regarding the events at the Central Market of Penza, the governor’s adviser, the famous entrepreneur Konstantin Voitsekhovsky, expressed his point of view:

“Give everyone 21%, but for some the price has risen for a group of goods, but for sugar, for example, it has fallen, and he cannot compensate: either he increases the price of sugar, or he is not able to pay. This means that either the coefficient should be broken down by type of activity or, as in other regions, abandon it altogether.”

Many agreed that the imperfection of the legislative framework and the lack of a number of documents are hindering the development of small businesses in Penza. So now the deputies of the Regional Legislative Assembly and the City Duma have something to puzzle over: there are only a few days left before fateful decisions.

On air Voronezh, Elena Fanailova:

In June, the cost of travel in Voronezh city transport increased by 50%; one and a half rubles now costs one and a half rubles for travel on buses, trolleybuses and trams - this decision was made by the regional tariff commission. Despite the fact that the cost of transporting one passenger is now almost 9 rubles per flight, transport tariffs have not increased since February 1997. However, a large economic coefficient is not expected from the price increase, since the main contingent of municipal transport are beneficiaries who enjoy the right to free travel. There are almost 500 thousand of them in a city of a million - pensioners and students, of whom 5% more live in Voronezh than the Russian average.

The last time transport workers received the required subsidies from the regional budget and the relevant ministries was almost a year ago; in addition, the increase in fares coincided with another increase in prices for bread and telephone services, that is, it serves as another sign of increasing social tension. I would like to remind you that the crisis of urban transport in Voronezh became noticeable 6 years ago, this was marked by crowds of people at bus stops during rush hours and the complete impossibility of leaving residential areas in the periods between these hours. The machine fleet was aging and was not replenished; in some farms only 30-40% of it remained. Private minibuses became a way out of the transport crisis. Without exaggeration, two years ago minibuses became a real salvation for the city - people prefer to save time and get there in comfort, paying one and a half to two rubles. At first, the market was occupied by Muscovites, but they were soon pushed out by local private traders. Today in Voronezh there are about 150 routes and one and a half thousand cars plying on them, which carry up to 350 thousand passengers per day. The owners of the minibuses did not raise fares either after the August crisis or after the new year, when the regional Duma introduced a 5% sales tax, and prices in the food and services markets rose sharply. Now the cost of travel in minibus taxis has doubled and costs, depending on the distance of transportation, from 3 to 4 rubles. The route operators themselves attribute this to the transfer of their business under the administrative control of the regional motor transport association. In October, taxi drivers created a public association to protect their interests. The taxi drivers were supported by the press, and the city was on the verge of a strike by minibus operators and another transport crisis. The regional prosecutor protested the forms of control over the work of the minibus taxi. Now another scandal is brewing around minibuses, this time related to unaccounted transportation and “left” profits. This refers not so much to extra flights or unsold tickets, but to unregistered cars on routes.

On air from Arkhangelsk, Vladimir Anufriev:

Europe's largest diamond deposit named after Lomonosov was discovered by geologists about a hundred kilometers from Arkhangelsk 19 years ago. The license for its development is held by the Arkhangelsk joint-stock company Severalmaz. The Belomorsk subsoil stores 25% of Russian diamonds. According to very rough data, the reserves of local precious crystals are estimated at 12 billion dollars. The Lomonosov field development project, according to various estimates, costs from 700 million to one billion US dollars. At first, they tried to find money for development within the country, but to no avail. It took Severoalmaz 3 years to lift the veil of state secrecy over the deposit; without this, there could be no talk of strategic foreign investments. Who will buy a pig in a poke? Former head of the Russian government Sergei Kiriyenko on June 15, while in Arkhangelsk, said that he did not expect such opposition when he signed the decision to declassify Arkhangelsk diamonds. Moreover, the opponents’ arguments boiled down to the fact that let them lie in the ground for a “rainy day.”

Thus, Arkhangelsk diamonds became a bone of contention between the Arkhangelsk region, which is interested in the speedy development of the deposit, and the federal center, which, if not opposed to this, then erects various barriers. According to Arkhangelsk Governor Anatoly Efremov, full-scale development of the field will bring 600 million tax rubles a year to the regional treasury. The mine built here will be able to operate for at least 50 years; it is estimated that the diamond mining industry, new to the economy of the Arkhangelsk region, will create an additional 10 thousand jobs in the region. The Russian Ministry of Economy has developed a concept for the development of the country's diamond complex, according to which attracting foreign investors to the industry is considered inappropriate. The law on precious metals and precious stones adopted by the State Duma does not allow foreign capital to have a controlling stake in diamond mining companies. Meanwhile, the South African corporation Debir, the world leader in the diamond business, has actually become a strategic investor in Severalmaz and there is reason to believe that it will now choose a wait-and-see approach to large-scale financing of the project.

"Позиция вполне понятна, - считает Генеральный директор "Севералмаза" Виталий Фортыгин, - мы же фактически говорим: дайте денег и смотрите со стороны, как мы их будем тратить. Так не бывает".

Однако на архангельские алмазы претендует не только могущественная "Дебир", свои претензии на них довольно неожиданно заявила и ведущая российская компания алмазной промышленности "Алрос". Она готова инвестировать до 700 миллионов долларов в разработку месторождения. Об этом сказал мне вице-президент "Алроса" Александр Матвеев. Государство сдерживает приток иностранных инвестиций, но почему должны ждать жители деревни Степановское, что в 50-ти километрах от Архангельска, Валерий и Людмила и их 10 детей, младшему из которых всего год? Они бедствуют без работы, без денег в том самом Приморском районе, на территории которого разведаны драгоценные камни. Конечно, наивно думать, что алмазы, извлеченные из недр, превратят их в арабских шейхов, но они дадут им шанс на получение работы, обеспечат своевременную выплату из бюджета социальных пособий на детей.

On air Pskov, Anna Lipina:

Для массового пользователя "Интернет" в провинции - пока в диковинку, домашние компьютеры с "Интернет" в Пскове для большинства - недоступная роскошь. Что уж говорить о домашних пользователях, когда даже многие фирмы не могут себе позволить доступ в "Интернет". "Всемирная паутина", как виртуальная шпаргалка, давно известна и многочисленному псковскому студенчеству, однако и здесь, как говорится, видит око, да зуб неймет. Не всякий студент может найти средства на приобретение домашнего компьютера и подключиться к "Интернет". Очевидный спрос на "Интернет" для массового пользователя решил удовлетворить один из немногочисленных псковских провайдеров, открыв в городе модную новинку "Интернет-кафе". Говорит Генеральный директор акционерного общества "Псковсветком" Светлана Васильева:

"Мы очень боялись, что, когда мы откроем это кафе, здесь сразу начнутся игрушки. Казалось бы, игры - это такой бич нынешний, и вы знаете, ни разу такого не было. Людям действительно очень интересно, что такое "Интернет", потрогать его своими руками. Приходят молодые ребята от 15-ти лет, приходят серьезные солидные дамы, которые уже по "Интернету" рассылают объявления, что они желают работать гувернантками, приходят фирмы, которые не имеют своих компьютеров, но хотят регулярно присутствовать при этом в нашей "мировой паутине", желают уже абонировать определенное рабочее место каждый день на энное количество часов. Мы не думали, что спрос пойдет так быстро. Волею случая я живу в этом же доме, вечерами я иногда спускаюсь сюда посмотреть, что здесь творится, вот места свободного мне просто не найти".

Одним из немаловажным фактором становления и развития любого дела является грамотная ценовая политика. Говорит Светлана Васильева:

"Когда создавался этот узел доступа, "Светком" не преследовал цель заработать на этом деньги. Все прекрасно понимают, что если мы выставим цены большие, то люди сюда просто не пойдут, а в основном, дальнейшей идеей лежит все-таки создание определенного клуба, клуба людей, которые знакомы где-то с азами "Интернета", а где-то и на уровне серьезных профессиональных пользователей. Мы не задумывались о том, сколько это будет стоить, как только наша команда услышала: ага, скоро появится "Интернет-кафе", взяли и как-то сформулировали эту цену, а раз они так сказали, мы говорим: ребята, раз вам нравится такая цена, значит, вы по такой цене и будете здесь работать. именно такая цена заявлена в прайс-листе".

Оплата "интернет"-услуг для посетителей кафе по нынешним временам просто символическая: первый час совершенно бесплатно, второй 5 рублей. Для новичков в кафе работают консультанты. Я же, поставив себя на место рядового посетителя, оценила прелести быстрого "Интернета", набрав известный всем слушателям Радио Свобода адрес в "Интернете": www.svoboda.org и с удовольствием прочла репортажи моих коллег.