Komsomolskaya Pravda: “Putin to the rescue in Roza”
The government of the Chelyabinsk Region had prepared many things for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit including carefully removing snow from the roads. With this background, the town of Roza's cracked and deteriorating residential buildings looked especially shocking.
The mining town of Roza, named after Rosa Luxemburg, has a population of 15,000. The Korkino open pit mine, the largest in Eurasia, is located nearby. The mine is currently unprofitable and erosion around the site is threatening the neighbouring communities. This housing issue has been largely ignored for dozens of years. So Mr Putin had to do it himself.
A Gelandewagen (Mercedes SUV), driven by the prime minster himself, arrived at the snow-covered mine.
"You could put Ostankino TV tower in there and you still wouldn't see it," Mr Putin said, impressed by the mine's size.
Konstantin Strukov, director of the Chelyabinsk Coal Company, said "We won the war thanks to this coal after we had lost Donbass. But now this mine is just unprofitable," he sighed deeply.
The prime minister visited the flat of pensioner Lyubov Vetrova. "The wiring is worn out, the ceiling is coming down, and today I found ice in a crack," the woman complained to Mr. Putin.
Naturally, the prime minster was fuming at the meeting after the visit.
"Do you have any conscience at all? How can people live there? Don't make this a bureaucratic mess, and stop collecting all these permits. Just move the people out!" said the prime minister angrily.
The entire plan will cost 27 billion roubles. The residents of the most hazardous buildings, 3,700 people overall, will be relocated first.
By The Way
"Ready to make a contribution..."
"Everyone has a right to express his opinion, his view on the authorities and also to support them. Nobody, including me, expected that so many people at Poklonnaya Hill," Mr Putin said, commenting on the rally at Poklonnaya Hill. "Of course, administrative resources are always mentioned, and I don't rule out this possibility, but it's impossible to gather 134,000 or 190,000 people just from administrative resources. Regarding fines, the organisers shouldn't worry, I'm ready to make my contribution to it and partly share the responsibility."
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To read about the rallies in Moscow and other cities on February 4, see pages 2-5.
Yelena Chinkova
