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The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast
Brief outline of the speech of Boris Maltsev, Chairman of the Tomsk Oblast State Duma, at its XXXVII Session Recently the Paralympic Games have concluded in Vancouver. The Russian team showed splendid results: lead in the medal tally and second in the gold medalist number. Our countrymen managed to retrieve honor and dignity of their home country. And all this with the assumption that our disabled people face more challenges in routine shopping – no ramps – or city public trips than in ski racing at the Paralympics. The main conclusion due to be drawn by each of us – splendid results shall be not only afford grounds for pride but also become our head-motif to change our attitude to disabled people.
The world economic situation is still arousing concerns. IMF made rather grave diagnosis for financial status of the richest states. It estimated that the ratio between the G7 national debt and GDP will reach 100% this year. This has hardly occurred since 1950s. Economic challenges are mounting tension in many developed countries. Greece, Italy and the UK suffer from mass strikes. Quite a few areas of concern are revealed in interstate relations.
All the above served as a background for the Russian single voting date. Citizens of 76 regions expressed their will, 6069 election campaigns were held at all possible levels with 40.5 thousand mandates filled in. The elections strengthened positions of the United Russia in the executive branch and enabled it to influence the political situation of the communist, liberal and democratic parties and the Just Russia Party.
The results of elections in Tomsk Oblast revealed mainly the following: all power belongs to the people in full compliance with the RF Constitution! On the other hand we need to agree with the governor’s position: people running the elections, and primarily the party functionaries, representatives of all administration levels, must thoroughly study the people’s stance, defer to their opinion. The ruling party must support the people’s choice. The government must support the citizens’ choice and the citizens in turn will support both the party and the government!
The RF Public Chamber has just published a report on the status of the civil society in the country. The report authors accused the governors of a few regions, including Tomsk Oblast, of their overestimating themselves.
I wonder: “Can Tomsk Oblast overestimate itself?” The Oblast territory constitutes 314.4 thousand sq. km and is predominantly located to the north from latitude 56°N. Almost 100 % of the area is inadequate for permanent comfortable leaving, as the frosts reach 45-50°C in winter. Swamps and marshy lands occupy 37 % of the territory. Huge part of the land is regularly flooded, 64 % of the Tomsk Oblast area are covered by woods. Over 85 % of the area refer to hard-to-reach areas equal to the Far North regions. The cultivated area in 2008 was only 1.2 % of the Oblast territory, including crops – 0.8 %. Frost-free period lasts only for 100 days. The infrastructure maintenance costs grow at an exponential rate with each degree below zero. Over 20 days are required to clean 40-centimeter snow cover in Tomsk. This winter we removed 390 tons of snow from the city.
Agricultural season in Tomsk Oblast is less than 2 months. In Europe it is 8-9 months. The crop yield is 17 centners per hectare, in Sweden – 60 centners, in Germany, France, the UK – 70, in Ireland – 85 centners per hectare! 75 % of Tomsk demands in food are covered by imported goods.
Senior citizens and people of pre-retirement age constitute 27% of the total population number – almost 280 thousand people. Employees of research institutes and higher education institutions (including students) are approx. 120 thousand people. Public sector workers constitute 122 thousand people. Children under 17 total 190 thousand people. Unemployed – 20 thousand people. Besides, we have also clergymen, housewives, prisoners, people with no fixed abode, displaced people, etc.
In total there are about 740 thousand people who live by budgetary means, and a bit more than 300 thousand people constituting an active part of population. And these 300 thousand people are all we rely on! It’s small, medium and farmer businesses!
This is, to have it straight, an unenviable basis for economic development in Tomsk Oblast. After transference from the Soviet planned system into the market economy almost whole large business, i.e. all large enterprises, collapsed: instrument plant, bearing plant, electrical engineering plant, radio engineering, measuring instrumentation plant, gauging plant, rubber footwear plant, etc.
It is obvious that it is rather challenging to run such complex area. So there are no grounds to envy us and reproach for overestimation. It is 10 times harder to attract investment s to Tomsk as compared with any of the European states. Not speaking about Europe – 10 times harder than in the European part of Russia. And we still manage to do it.
We have found the way out: approved the Tomsk Oblast Strategy of Social and Economic Development till 2020. There was much applause, cheers about this document. However, we haven’t considered the proposals to define scopes, schedule and appoint responsible people. Unfortunately, we are still so much distant from reaching the goals as we were on the effective day of this document.
Today we witness endemic for innovations in the Oblast. However, it is a dangerous illusion to rely upon the federal and regional authorities as the sole modernization and innovation engine. We must create new and develop the existing mechanisms of interaction between the authorities, business and science, when the parties consider mutual interests and by no means try to force each other into something, particularly innovations. Innovations will be introduced because it is profitable for business and not for fear of punishment for not using innovative technologies. All the branches and levels of authorities, to my mind, must consider it in their current affairs with regard to implementation of medium- and long-term plans of social and economic development.
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