First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Chelyabinsk, January 17, 2008
Photo: Boris Kaulin
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Candidate Medvedev Visits Siberia
First Deputy Prime Minister and presidential candidate Dmitry Medvedev visited Tyumen to follow up on the Accessible Housing national project and Chelyabinsk to study ecological conditions. He held a press conference at the end of his trip at which he noted the progress Russian democracy has made and the social and economic improvements of the last eight years.
“The modern Russian state is 16-17 year, but they scold us for not being so grown up. However, we have proceeded to a meeting-based democracy to a parliamentary democracy, where all mechanisms work smoothly,” he commented. He was accompanied by chief of the presidential executive staff Sergey Sobyanin, who is also his campaign manager.
Medvedev's tour was standard. He visited new housing in 3rd Zarechny neighborhood of Tyumen and smelting plants in Chelyabinsk. He told workers in Tyumen that raising pensions would be among the first tasks of the near future. In Chelyabinsk, he was told that, thanks to improved pollution controls, beavers have returned to the local river. Nonetheless, he noted later at a meeting with ecologists from Southern Urals State University that Chelyabinsk was among the ten most polluted regions in Russia.
Next week, Medvedev will make several statements on the economy and the role of the state in society. In particular, he will speak about pension reform at the Civic Forum on January 22.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 18, 2008
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