Rossiyskaya Gazeta: “Monuments at the mercy of governors”
Kibovsky: some governors will not care about monuments.
At yesterday's meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Alexander Kibovsky, head of Rosokhrankultura (the Federal Service for the Monitoring of Compliance with Law for the Protection of Cultural Heritage) said that this year the regions will receive 267 million roubles for the protection of monuments. He said these funds were transferred to the regions on schedule and the work has already started. "We hope to smooth out everything this year and start normal processes next year," Kibovsky said, speaking about the transfer of authority over the monuments to the regional level.
"How well do you think the regions will protect their monuments?" Putin asked incredulously and seemed to hit the right button. It transpired that this will work only in regions where the governors are personally interested in protecting monuments. "Regrettably, if the governors do not care about the monuments, regardless of the authority given them they and all other officials will use it against the monuments rather than for their benefit," Kibovsky said, sharing with Putin his perpetual problem.
Kibovsky recalled that on January 1, 2008 all federal authority for the protection of monuments was transferred to the regions. "But at that time, this decision was not supported by subventions. So a legal vacuum appeared and the monuments were not protected by anyone," he explained. Now his department intends to be tougher on monument maintenance. Kibovsky sees a damaged monument as sufficient grounds for an unscheduled inspection. "Although we have transferred the authority to the regions, we have not walked away from our responsibility. During the past year we have conducted over a thousand inspections on specific cases, during which we compiled protocols, opened administrative cases and submitted the papers to the relevant bodies," he said.
The allocation of a large sum for the protection of monuments is only natural against the backdrop of optimistic reports by Alexander Surinov, head of the Federal Service on State Statistics, that Russia has almost reached pre-crisis economic growth rates. "The trend is positive. We have almost reached the average monthly level of 2008. We made 99.1% of it and this is tangible growth," Surinov told Putin at the meeting. Comparing five months of this year with the same period last year, Surinov reported that the GDP has grown more than 10%. He was pleased to note that according to some sources unemployment continues decreasing as well. "In the past month it dropped by 500,000 people, which is also very good," Surinov said, adding that its current level is 7.5% compared to 8.5% last year.
"Was it even higher at the beginning of the year?" Putin inquired.
"Yes, it was. We must also take into account seasonality," Surinov explained. He said that the indicators of unemployment and economic growth show "that we seem to be overcoming the crisis."
Surinov did not forget to mention demographic problems. His department will work hard this year - the census starts in November. It will cost 16.5 billion roubles. "This is not so much, but what can we do? We understand that there is a crisis and the initial allocation was slightly reduced. We have also reduced our lists for the census by removing the most time consuming and complicated questions. But we'll provide answers for them from regular statistical reviews," he said, demonstrating a thrifty attitude toward the budget funds.
Pierre Sidibe
