BBC
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| Residents are using any source of heat they
can . |
Russia's national
power monopoly sacked two of its top managers in the far east
of the country as some 70,000 people endured no heating in freezing
temperatures in a crisis blamed on appalling infrastructure and
a cash shortfall.
Television
and radio broadcasting have also been hit. Power companies in
Amur Region are cutting power to broadcasters in the region during
the daytime over unpaid debts.
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| Not the weather to get caught with no heating. |
Anatoly Chubais,
head of Unified Energy Systems (UES) electricity monopoly, told
parliament in Moscow on Wednesday he had sacked two top managers
in the region as it was impossible to work with them.
"The
crisis situation demands urgent action," Mr Chubais said,
but he conceded the move was unlikely to remedy the situation.
"The
degree of destruction of financial mechanisms in Dalenergo (the
UES regional utility) is so high that extraordinary measures cannot
help. A comprehensive programme on cardinal changes in the region
is needed," he said.
The central
heating systems for whole towns have either run out of fuel or
have only enough left to keep themselves from freezing over. In
Artem, 14,000 people living in 125 blocks of flats have no central
heating, while night-time temperatures are dropping to -10C.
Local authorities
have blamed the crisis on the federal government not paying the
money it owes, including for fuel bills for military and government
buildings.
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| Electricity demand has soared as well. |
The debts
come to over 4bn roubles according to some counts, even though
ministers say the region has had extra emergency budget funds.
A leap in prices for fuel oil has not helped.
Freezing
Svetlana Kachayeva,
a municipal official in the town of Kavalerovo said on Russian
NTV: "Here in Kavalerovo, about 15,000 are freezing in council
houses supplied by boiler houses run on liquid fuel. There are
about 20,000 such houses in the district."
War veteran
Ivan Sundiyev, said: "It's cold, the body aches. I can't
sleep at night, whichever way I turn my leg. I don't want to have
it amputated."
On Monday,
President Vladimir Putin berated regional governor Yevgeny Nazdratenko's
administration, saying the local government was responsible for
the region's woes and should not try to pass the buck to the Kremlin.
"What
is happening is an absolute disgrace," Putin said. "They
are not just residents of the territory, but citizens of Russia."
But Mr Nazdratenko
told parliament he was not the only one to blame.
"For
two consecutive weeks they have been saying that the governor
is to blame for the situation in the energy sector... I should
speak of the nonpayment problem and the federal agencies' debt
of 460m roubles to the public utilities sector," he said.
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| With no fuel, that's where it'll stay. |
Grounded
The lack of
fuel is even affecting the emergency services. Two all-terrain
vehicles are stuck in snow in the remote Siberian tundra, with
25 people on board including 11 children and an expectant mother
on her way to a maternity hospital.
But rescuers
have been unable to reach them so far because their helicopter
has been grounded - there is no fuel at its base.
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