Sergei Shoigu warms Primorye
By your presence
Yesterday, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Sergei Shoigu, arrived in Vladivostok. He must establish heat supply in freezing cities. A month ago, Mr. Shoigu failed to cope with the same task.

Residents of Primorye organize protests almost every day, blocking traffic on roads, and residents of the village of Razdolny this week tried to block the Trans-Siberian Railway. According to the regional department for civil defense and emergency situations, more than 16 thousand residents of Primorye are now left without centralized heat supply. The situation is complicated by severe frosts, reaching 30 degrees, and regular power outages for six to eight hours a day. The authorities of four municipalities of the region even declared a heat supply emergency.
In December, about 90 thousand people froze in Primorye. Then Sergei Shoigu also came to Vladivostok as the head of a special government commission consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Railways, the State Reserve, RAO UES of Russia and other departments. The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations then held several meetings, threatened local officials with “responsibility” and gave a deadline - until December 15 to establish heat supply to all populated areas. The minister's order was not carried out.
Yesterday, immediately after arriving in Vladivostok, Sergei Shoigu went to the regional administration, where at a representative meeting he again scolded local officials. He said that since December 7 last year, more than a billion rubles have been transferred from the federal budget to Primorye. This money turned out to be even more than is required for the purchase of fuel - about 130 million rubles have remained unclaimed for two weeks now. So the problem is working on site. Vice-Governor Viktor Chepik, who oversees the region's municipal services, reported that about 300 specialists in three shifts are doing everything possible to supply heat to 130 apartment buildings.
— It turns out that you have less than one person working at each house per shift. And this is what you call eliminating the crisis. “Don’t hang noodles on my ears,” Sergei Shoigu raised his voice. The sweaty vice-governor was sent to redo the report. The visiting minister announced that he does not need fairy tales from local authorities, but specific proposals: what else can federal structures do to ensure that there is light and warmth in the apartments of Primorye residents. Apparently, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations no longer has any hope for the forces of the regional administration.
The government commission headed by Minister Shoigu plans to work in Primorye until January 30 and visit the cities of Arsenyev, Artem, Partizansk, Kavalerovsky district, where the situation with heat and electricity is most difficult.

ALEXEY K-CHERNYSHEV, Vladivostok

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 14 dated January 27, 2001, p. 2