GOVERNOR OF SAKHALIN WILL BE ELECTED THIS DECEMBER
Izvestia, August 27, 2003, p. 3
Lubov Shubina, the first deputy chairperson of Sakhalin territorial Duma stated yesterday that the pre-schedule election of a new governor of Sakhalin territory in connection with tragic death of Igor Farkhutdinov, the head of this subject of Russian Federation, would be held most likely on December 7, 2003 and would be combined with the election of the deputies of the State Duma. Shubina stressed that Sakhalin territorial Duma would determine the date of the election at its plenary session on September 2. Shubina also commented on the possibility of holding election on December 7 and said that this date met all the requirements of the present statute of Sakhalin territory. The expenditure for the election was not planned in the territorial budget. “By the calculations of the territorial election committee, the financial expenditure for the elections of the governor and deputies will come to 30 million rubles. We will have to find not less than 15-20 million rubles in the budget for the election of the governor. So, we will have to invest those arrivals, which should have been directed to the social policy and preparation for winter, in the election,” Shubina said.
MANEUVERS WITH LETHAL OUTCOME
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 27, 2003, EV
Russian air forces continue to incur casualties not connected with combat. Two Mi-24 attack helicopters have crashed near Ussuriysk, when returning from a mission in the course of the large-scale military exercises in the Russian Far East. Five crew members were killed, one wounded. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who was present at the maneuvers and witnessed the accident, called it a case of “reckless bravado and hooliganism in the air”.
Helicopter crashes have become a real curse for Russian aviation, including both military and civil aviation. Not a day passes without some incidents involving helicopters. It seems symbolic that the tragedy near Ussuriysk happened on the eve of the funeral of Igor Farkhutdinov, the governor of Sakhalin, and officials of his administration, whose Mi-8 helicopter had crashed in Kamchatka.