Protvino fights for proximity to the Kremlin
Citizens stood up to defend telephone rights
Tomorrow in the court of the city of Protvino, Moscow region, a case will be considered, during which the fate of the distances between settlements of the Russian Federation will be decided.

The thing is that the German Rainer Harke lives in the academic town of Protvino. A few months ago, he drew attention to the fact that for a telephone conversation from the city of Protvino to Moscow one has to pay two and a half times more than for a conversation from Moscow to Protvino. The German became interested and soon found out that the Ministry of Communications and Information of the Russian Federation classifies the city of Protvino in the second tariff zone, which starts from the 102nd kilometer from Moscow.
But why then can you call from Moscow so cheaply? It turned out that Protvino does not have its own dedicated code, and telephone conversations of city residents go through Serpukhov, which without any doubt belongs to the first tariff zone, because it is 12 kilometers closer to Moscow than Protvino.
The German decided to find out how far Protvino was from Moscow. It turned out that no one really knows this. Then the German was not too lazy to send a request to the Moscow Aerogeodetic Enterprise (MAGP) of the Federal Service of Geodesy and Cartography, and he was answered: “The distance from the center of Protvino to the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin is 100.245 km, to St. Basil’s Cathedral - 100.272 km, to the Lenin Mausoleum - 100.346 km , to Lobnoye Mesto - 100.329 km, and to the geometric center of Red Square - 100.372 km. The error in the computational distances does not exceed 15 m."
In the same letter, the assistant director of the Moscow State Highway Department, Mr. Lvov, insistently asked “in connection with the increased accuracy of determining distances, all previous letters and figures on this matter, if any, should be considered cancelled.”
That's good. Rainer Harke found out everything he needed and calmed down, and then, they say, he completely left Protvino for the first tariff zone. But pro-Tvina deputies learned about the results of his investigation. And they filed a lawsuit against a division of the Ministry of Communications - OJSC Elektrosvyaz of the Moscow Region. In the statement of claim, they referred to the legal right of the provincials to also live in the first tariff zone.
Many documents appeared in court. Thus, the Deputy Prosecutor of the Moscow Region, State Counselor of Justice of the III class, Mr. Mitusov, found out that “the distance between the center of the city of Protvino and the center of the Kremlin is 102 km,” which means that “there is no crime in the actions of officials of JSC Elektrosvyaz.”
The court also got acquainted with the results of the examination of the geodesy group of the Institute of High Energy Physics, which is located in Protvino. The head of the group, Candidate of Technical Sciences Yuri Kirochkin, generally found out that “the distance from the northern border of Protvino to the geometric center of Red Square in Moscow is 97.6 km.” To bring final clarity to this issue, he specifically noted that “the distances were measured with a Geneva ruler #0575 at a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius with an accuracy of 0.1 mm.”
Meanwhile, the head of the electrical communications department of the State Committee for Communications, Mr. Rokotyan, in his conclusion sent to the court, indicated that since the center of the city of Protvino itself “is impossible to determine, since it is indicated on the map by a punch,” then, in his opinion, “it is advisable to consider the distance between Moscow and Protvino, Moscow region, equal to 102 km and assign Protvino to the second tariff zone."
However, here the Protvino deputies quickly put him in his place, because back in 1997 the mayor of the city of Protvino issued a decree that it should be considered a center, and in the future the defendant stated that he did not intend to challenge this decree.
In the end, the court accepted as a basis the conclusion of another examination of the Moscow Aerogeodetic Enterprise, according to which “the distance from the zero kilometer of roads located on Red Square to the geometric center of Protvino is 100.5 km in a straight line.” This conclusion gained the confidence of the court also because “the distance was calculated using flat rectangular coordinates of the state system.”
True, the defendants tried to use their last chance, recalling the resolution “On the classification of highways in the Russian Federation.” But this seemed completely helpless, since this resolution, as stated in the court decision, “was adopted in order to streamline the use of funds allocated for maintenance, repairs, etc.” highways
In general, the Protvinsk court ordered Elektrosvyaz OJSC to establish tariffs for telephone calls Protvino-Moscow in the first tariff zone, and the Moscow Regional Court left Elektrosvyaz's cassation appeal unsatisfied.
But the matter did not end there, it had only just begun. The General Director of Elektrosvyaz, Mr. Amaryan, immediately signed a new statement of claim to reconsider the case, taking into account the newly discovered circumstances. What are these circumstances? It turns out that literally the next day after the decision of the regional court, the Ministry of Communications of Russia issued order #140 “On the procedure for determining distances for the purposes of tariffication of communication services...”, which, as stated in the statement of claim, “established the procedure for changing distances between settlements by territory of the Russian Federation."
The order itself does not say how exactly the Ministry of Communications, frightened by the Protvina history, changed the distances between settlements in Russia. But I managed to find out that now the Ministry of Communications considers the building in which it is located to be the geometric and geographical center of Moscow. And the center of other settlements is their administration buildings. This was the only way to defeat Protvino, because if you count as the ministry decided, you get the same 102 km that are needed to include Protvino in the second tariff zone.
A new trial of the case is scheduled for tomorrow. Kommersant will report how it ends.

ANDREY KOLESNIKOV

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 230 dated 07.12.2000, page 9

Authors:

Andrey Kolesnikov