NEW CONTROL ROOM PUT INTO SERVICE BY ENERGY PROVIDER IN PRIMORSKY KRAI

A new central control room of Primorsky regional dispatcher's office was opened in Vladivostok on 6 August.

The opening ceremony was attended by Gov. Sergei Darkin, representatives of Far Eastern Energy Managing Company, deputy chairman of the central dispatcher's service of the United Energy System of Russia.

The new central control room will contribute to optimization of Primorye's energy system performance. Time gap between events at remote power plants and dispatcher's reaction will be fractions of second, and information on dispatcher's display will be shown in real time. This will improve quality of energy services to local consumers and make reaction to emergency situations faster.

The governor said this will also allow to optimize the prime cost of electric energy production. FEEMC deputy director general Sergei Vasilchuk declared that the new facility elevates Primorye's energy industry to a new reliability level of energy supply. By his words, a similar control room will soon be installed on Sakhalin. - Yury ROGOV.

MUNICIPAL PROPERTY FREELY GIVEN AWAY

During his last day in office on 16 July, Vladivostok ex-mayor Yury Kopylov signed about 80 decrees on long-term lease of land plots.

On the whole, about 300 similar documents were issued during two weeks between the first and second tours of mayoral elections. In some cases, the same land plot was leased to two, three and even four different entities at a time. This shows that land allocation was being done in a great hurry with no time to read documents.

The list of those receiving gifts from the ex-mayor in his last day is long. For instance, a certain limited liability company was allocated 6,800 square meters of land for auto service and parking lot construction in Nerchinskaya Street. School No. 75, who has an indefinite-term leasehold of this land, allegedly refused from it.

The same company received another 1,140 square meters for construction of a 9-story administrative building with service premises in the yard of an apartment building in downtown and, finally, buildings of two out-of-use cinema theatres.

Several individuals received nice pieces of land for country-house construction in the protected resort area in city suburbs. - Irina SVETLANSKAYA.

VLADIVOSTOK GUM DEPARTMENT STORE CAN BE PRIVATIZED

GUM's both buildings located at 35 and 45 Svetlanskaya Street, will most likely be privatized soon.

Primorsky Krai arbitration court confirmed the first-instance court's decision, under which the regional Property Fund must make a sales contract on these buildings with GUM, and declined complaints lodged by the Property Fund and State Property Management Committee, says spokesman for arbitration court.

GUM applied to the region's State Property Management Committee (SPMC) for permission to be privatized back in 1995, but the response was no, because both buildings would be referred to historical and cultural heritage of federal importance. However, these buildings were not included in the list approved by a presidential decree on 20 February 1995. Since then, further applications by the joint-stock company GUM for privatization had been shelved one by one.

As such delays were unlawful, OAO Vladivostok GUM handed draft sales contracts to SPMC and the Property Fund in March and April 2003 and required that these contracts be signed. Upon receiving another refusal, GUM appealed to arbitration court. The first-instance court satisfied its suit, and the court of appeals approved this ruling.

Court decisions have taken effect, but SPMC and the Property Fund may appeal to Far Eastern federal arbitration court. - Evgeny ITAROV.

KLINKET SEPARATED FROM ASKOLD

At the annual general meeting on 28 July, OAO Askold shareholders decided to reorganize the company by making OAO Klinket a separate entity, says Askold director general Pavel Bogdanovsky.

The new company's first director general became Anatoly Kruk. It is expected that Klinket (some time ago, this was Askold's name) will concentrate on construction business.

It should be reminded that Askold got new owners in last year - OOO DK-Medservice, ZAO Finmarket, OOO East-Fog and a group of individuals consolidated a controlling interest in Askold. - Olga DOBROLYUBOVA.

HALF MILLION RUBLES WORTH OF CONTRABAND SEIZED BY BORDER GUARDS

Border guards of the Pacific Regional Border Command seized about 500,000 rubles worth of contraband goods in last July.

As spokesman for PRBC informs, total-to-date for 2004 is 2.2 million rubles. - Yevgeny ITAROV.

UNEMPLOYMENT HIGHER IN ARTEM

The unemployment rate has grown in Artem due to massive shutdowns of 100% foreign capital garment making businesses.

About 600 workers lost jobs. By words of Yelena Gerasimova, director of Artem's employment centre, 73 workers were dismissed by OOO Komex-Russia (Shtykovo) on 20 March, J & R Company from Uglovoye gave notice that 170 workers would be laid off on 5 May, OOO J M International will lay off 66 workers after 1 September, and OOO Newmax Apparel Co. notified that 276 workers will be dismissed staring on 18 August.

OOO Sinu-Company and OOO Sam Il International did not give two-month notices as required by law. Not all of those losing jobs will be dismissed "due to liquidation," which means they will receive no compensation as stated in the Labour Code. Many Korean employers put "dismissed by mutual agreement" in labour record books, and these workers will be entitled only to unemployment allowance upon registry as jobless.

Yelena Gerasimova says that the majority of those dismissed from the shut down factories receive unemployment allowances. - Yulia PROKHOROVA.