Birth rate boost in Abramovich’s region
Published 17 March, 2008, 08:42
As well as turning Chelsea into a winning football club, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has helped turn around the once-neglected region of Chukotka in the country’s far east. Eight years after Abramovich took over as Governor, the region has among the highest birth rates in the entire country.
The kindergarten in the centre of the capital, Anadyr, is called Fairy Tale and for the 200 children who spend most of a day there, it can be something of a wonderland.
Inna Aleksandrova has worked as a teacher in Chukotka for 14 years and she remembers how different things once were.
“We didn’t have any toys and proper clothes either. The parents took their children to kindergartens only because they could have a meal here,” said Inna Aleksandrova, kindergarten teacher.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union the economy suffered. There were food and fuel shortages – a true ordeal when it’s minus 50 outside.
Hope abandoned this area, and so did its people.
There were 150,000 residents in the early 1990s and only a third of that amount remained.
But after Roman Abramovich invested hundreds of millions of dollars to fight poverty in Chukotka, Aleksandr Maslov says families there are no longer afraid to have a baby as they feel more secure.
“We’ve tackled our key problems – we’ve hired the staff, bought the facilities and drugs. We’ve cut the mortality rate and infant mortality in particular by three times,” said Aleksandr Maslov, Anadyr chief doctor.
Nevertheless Chukotka is not the easiest place to live – food isn't cheap, prices here are among the highest in the country’s regions – as food has to be delivered from the mainland.
Harsh weather and permafrost make it difficult to construct houses. But all this doesn’t seem to scare people away and those who fled are returning.
Maria Kuzmina from Afisha World magazine believes Chukotka is worth a visit.
“What I like most in Chukotka as a resident of a big city is that it is still rich in uninhabited areas. Chukotka is very beautiful. It’s attractive because of its wilderness,” said Kuzmina.
This mountain is nothing but a mountain right now – but in just two months it could become a ski resort just four kilometers from Anadyr.
“We’ve had no investment so far – investors usually want to see the object they are paying for. We might get somebody in as soon as the slope and lift are ready. But actually it’s not a must for us, we’re doing it for the community,” said Andrey Nagorny.
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