English News

Ufa City Council elects new mayor

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0600

Irek I. Yalalov has been elected Head of Ufa City Municipal District Administration today. The decision has been adopted on the 47th session of Ufa City Council. Twenty-eight of twenty-nine attending deputies supported Yalalov’s candidacy, one deputy chose not to vote. The two other candidates who had got through to the final round of competition for the mayor’s post, Edward Murzin and Salavat Khusainov, did not find any supporters. While nine contenders laid claim to the post initially, only three of them succeeded in passing the examination held by an expert committee.

The ceremony of signing of a contract with the new head of city administration took place immediately after the vote. The document was signed by Irek Yalalov and chairman of Ufa City Council Irek Nigmatullin.

In his election speech Mr. Yalalov presented a program consisting of eight blocks which cover most pressing social and economic issues in Ufa’s life and offered potential solutions to these issues.

The event was attended by President of Bashkortostan Republic Rustem Khamitov, chairman of Republic's State Assembly (Kurultai) Konstantin Tolkachyov, former head of city administration Pavel Kachkaev, heads of administrations of Ufa's districts and other officials.

Biography of Irek I. Yalalov

Ufa 2013 International Children’s Winter Games launch official website

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0600

The official website of the 6th International Children’s Winter Games, which are to be held in Ufa early in 2013, has been launched this January. The site offers information on competitions and their schedule, news, media gallery, FAQ, contact details, a feedback form etc. A system of electronic registration for participants of the Games will be activated in the short run.

Currently the website functions in test mode, so the design and content are subject to further additions and updates as the competitions draw nearer. English and Russian versions are both available at www.icg-ufa2013.com.

The estimated number of children and teenagers to participate in the future competitions is about 800. The sports will include alpine skiing, ice hockey, snowboarding, figure skating, short track speed skating and others.

Ufa wins IV International Competition "Best City of CIS and EAEC"

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0600

Ufa has won six nominations at the IV International Urban Practices Show Competition ”Best City of Commonwealth of Independent States and Eurasian Economic Community”. They are “For practice of using effective innovation technologies for emergency repair of heating systems”, “For practice of developing and implementing the city target program “Teaching health-challenged children in accordance with general education programs using distance education technologies in 2009-2011”, “For effective implementation of the republic target program “Modernizing street lighting systems in Bashkortostan Republic settlements in 2011-2015”, “For practice of organizing seasonal agricultural “weekend fairs”, “For practice of involving citizens in the work of local self-government authorities” and “For practice of carrying out the environmental events “Nature and Man”, “Sprout into Future”, the all-Russia event “Lermontov Paths”, the show competitions “Park March”, “Green School Attire” and “Clean Water” having gathered over 100 thousand young citizens”.

The award ceremony took place within the framework of the III International Forum “Megalopolis: XXI Century” – Spatial Urban Development: Reality and Prospects in Moscow on December 22, 2011.

The urban practices show competition was initiated by the International Assembly of Capitals and Large Cities and is held in cooperation with the Russian Federation Ministry of Regional Development, the CIS Executive Committee, the Eurasian Economic Community Interration Committee, the All-Russia Council for Local Self-Government.

Participants of the show competition include capitals, centers of administrative and territorial entities and other large cities of participant states of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Community, technology developers, producers of goods and services, mass media representatives.

The competition is aimed at revealing concrete solutions to urban problems taking into account local conditions against the background of existing issues and at evaluating actual achievements resulting in improving urban life standards and increasing comfort and well-being of citizens. And it is the concrete beneficial effect for the city but not the scale of the practice that is taken into consideration. Events are evaluated through the quality and effectiveness of organizational and technical solutions, the resulting social and economic effect as well as the possibility of using the practice in other cities.

This year the competition gathered 35 cities from the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, the Transdniestrian Moldavian Republic. The competition committee suggested 310 urban development issues in relation to which participants could present their practices. More than 400 practices were submitted to the competition committee. After consideration 141 practices were nominated for Diplomas.

Among the nominee cities there were Ufa’s closest neighbors such as Izhevsk, Orenburg, Perm, Samara and Ulyanovsk.

Panasonic offers intelligent transportation systems to Bashkir cities

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0600

On December 16, 2011 Ufa City Municipal District Administration hosted a meeting between representatives of Panasonic and Sumitomo and officials from state and municipal road and transport organizations of Ufa, Meleuz, Oktyabrsky, Salavat, Sterlitamak.

During the meeting Mr. Tadashi Satoyama presented Panasonic intellectual transportation systems and spoke about their potential and the operational experience that Japanese cities had been having with those systems.

The meeting participants expressed great interest towards Panasonic developments in the field of collecting information on current road traffic situations and using this information to control transport flows. The Ufa officials also suggested carrying out a field test of Panasonic systems on certain roads in Ufa.

Dmitry Medvedev: Bashkortostan develops effectively

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0600

Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, was on a visit to Ufa on November 19. It was his second visit to the capital of Bashkortostan in 2011.

The first destination for Medvedev, accompanied by President of Bashkortostan Republic Rustem Khamitov and other officials, was Republic’s Clinical Hospital, the largest medical center in the region, where head of the state was acquainted with state-of-the-art equipment and advanced surgical technologies employed in the institution. After that President met with the staff of the hospital and answered their questions. In the course of the meeting an announcement was made that federal authorities are planning to provide guarantees to reduce mortgage rates for healthcare professionals.

Next point in President’s program was a visit to the Central Spiritual Board for Muslims of Russia, where Dmitry Medvedev met with Muslim leaders from Bashkortostan and surrounding regions, including the mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin. The key topics of the discussion were development of Muslim education, strengthening of interreligious concord and struggle with extremism. Medvedev stressed that developing of Muslim education and culture is one of the principal ways to confront extremism. “Ignorance is dangerous, and religious ignorance is twice as dangerous,” Medvedev stressed. It must be noted that Bashkortostan is one of the leading regions in terms of Muslim educational institutions.

Later President met with chief editors of print and electronic media of the Volga region and discussed the prospects of the field as well as a number of other pressing issues. At the end of the visit Medvedev made a special point that the effective development of Bashkortostan is obvious and cannot be questioned.

5th All-Russia Mothers’ Forum held in Ufa

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0600

The 5th All-Russia Mothers’ Forum has come to an end in Ufa. The forum was organized by the Government of Bashkortostan Republic on the initiative of the International Public Association of Charity Funds “Mama”. The principal objectives of the forum were to reinforce the institution of family, to elevate the social status of a mother, to protect maternity and childhood, to attract public attention and attention of civil society institutions to problems of modern family, maternity and childhood, to work out viable ways of solving those problems. The event has gathered over 500 representatives of more than 40 Russian Federation subjects.

The forum programme featured a plenary session, six round-table discussions, an award ceremony for enterprises that had managed to create the most favorable conditions for working mothers and a final children concert.

At the final press conference forum delegates put forward an initiative of adopting a Conception of Russian Family Policy until 2025. “The implementation of this conception could provide solid ground and give direction for further development of family legislation in Russia,” said Liliya Gumerova, Deputy Chairman of State Assembly of Bashkortostan Republic.

Ufa heritage gains international recognition

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0600

On October 27-29, 2011 Istanbul hosted the V International Conference of Eurasia World Heritage Cities dedicated to future generations heritage. The conference participants discussed such issues as reconstruction of historical centres and their popularization, reconstruction and preservation of historical environment, establishment of creative clusters, branding of cities and their cultural and historical heritage, the role of Internet sources in creating city image. The conference gathered city mayors and vice-mayors, experts in heritage preservation and city branding fr om Turkey, Russian Federation, Austria, India, Malaysia, France, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Ukraine and other countries.

On October 27 a heritage exhibition was opened wh the delegation of Ufa City Municipal District Administration of Bashkortostan Republic headed by Mr. Syntimir Bayazitov, Deputy Head of Administration, presented a colourful stand with photographs displaying Ufa’s cultural and historical heritage, its architectural and sculptural monuments. The exhibits also included folk art works bearing Ufa symbols, the national musical instrument kurai, Bashkir honey. During the exhibition a video film about Ufa was on constant replay. The conference participants had an opportunity to enjoy the sounds of kurai and Bashkir national songs watching the performance of Ilshat Sultangareev and Venera Yulgildina, artists of the Miras folk ensemble.

On October 28 the conference opening ceremony took place. After that Mr. Aleksei Yerkhov, Russian Federation Consul General in Istanbul, Mr. Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul, and Mr. Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Kazan, visited the city heritage exhibition. Mr. Kadir Topbaş made a particular note of the beauty of the Bashkortostan Republic capital, the level of its development and the richness of its historical and cultural heritage. Of great interest to the Mayor of Istanbul was the performance of Bashkir artists and kurai music.

Within the framework of the conference three consecutive sessions were held. During the second session Mr. Syntimir Bayazitov, head of the Ufa delegation, delivered a report dedicated to the role of Ufa cultural and historical heritage in increasing the recognizability of the Bashkortostan Republic capital.

On October 29 a United Cities and Local Governments Eurasia meeting chaired by Ilsur Metshin, UCLG Eurasia President, took place. The meeting was dedicated to summarizing the results of the conference. The participants passed the decision to recognize the 2010-2011 UCLG Eurasia activities as satisfactory.

Standard & Poor’s: Bashkortostan’s Economy Likely to Boost

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:13:08 +0600

Rustem Khamitov, President of Bashkortostan, held a meeting with the analysts of the Standard & Poor’s rating agency yesterday, followed by a briefing. In his speech Boris Kopeykin, spokesman for the agency, noted that Bashkortostan is currently undergoing dramatic changes in both investment treatment and administrative policies. These changes were discussed in detail with President Khamitov.

At the moment Standard & Poor’s tracks the ratings of 19 development-oriented federal subjects of Russia. It must be noted that only four of them have achieved a higher rating than Bashkortostan Republic (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs).

According to Kopeykin, Bashkortostan’s economy is going to enjoy high growth rates in years to come. These tendencies, as well as low government debt and substantial financial reserves, will be incorporated in the Standard & Poor’s rating assessment.

Federal Fund Aid Assists Ufa Target Programs on Citizens’ Relocation from Shabby Dwellings and Capital Renovation of Houses

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:13:08 +0600

Bashkortostan and Ufa authorities pay closest attention to the problems of emergency, shabby and obsolete houses in Bashkortostan’s capital. Cooperation with federal Fund for Assistance to Reform of Housing and Communal Services, development of municipal Target programs on relocation of the citizens from shabby and emergency dwellings and on implementation of complex capital renovation of apartment buildings has allowed to significantly advance in solving all these issues.

The result of joint cooperation with the Fund is obvious – today all the Target programs on the citizens’ relocation are 100 per cent completed. The total amount of investment from federal, regional and municipal budgets into the program on relocation of the citizens from shabby and emergency dwellings during the period of its implementation has reached almost 2 billion rubles, including federal co-financing exceeding 1.1 billion rubles.

Another joint activity performed together with the Fund for Assistance to Reform of Housing and Communal Services is complex capital renovation of apartment buildings in Bashkortostan’s capital. In 2009 alone, over 1.8 billion rubles were allocated to implement the related Target program, including more than 1.5 billion financing of the Fund. Under this program, 246 apartment buildings in Ufa were completely renovated in 2009. The total amount of financing from all sources for the capital renovation of housing in Ufa in 2009 almost reached 2.5 billion rubles, which is nearly double as compared to 2008.

The efficient cooperation with the Fund increases both the volume of works and their quality. Ufa citizens and authorities express deep gratitude to federal Fund for Assistance to Reform of Housing and Communal Services and hope that further assistance and fruitful cooperation shall contribute to the successful implementation of the duties vested on municipalities in the sphere of housing maintenance.

Largest Jewish center in Russia opened in Ufa

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:13:08 +0600

On April 13, Ufa witnessed the opening of a new Jewish community centre, a T-shaped monumental building with a total area of 6029 square meters.

Till 1929 the Ufa synagogue was located in the building of the present Bashkir State Philharmonic Society. Further it was moved to the ground floor of a residential house.

The new centre comprises a synagogue, kindergarten, Sunday school, museum dedicated to victims of the Holocaust, swimming pool for ritual baths, gym and charitable eating-room where kosher food is served. The design of the building has been accomplished by Arkhproekt, the general contractor has been Stroitel OAO.

Furthermore, in order to provide the churchmen and workers of the center with accommodation, a new house is being constructed next to it. Its commissioning is planned for 2008. The construction of the centre and the residential house is financed by investors and sponsors.

The opening ceremony took place in the prayer room of the new synagogue and was attended by the Deputy Prime-Minister of the Government of Bashkortostan Republic, Minister of Culture and National Policy of Bashkortostan Republic, Ildus Ilishev; the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Chairman of the Federation of Jewish Congregations, Berl Lazar; the Chief Rabbi of Bashkortostan, Dan Krichevskiy; the Head of Ufa City Municipal District Administration of Bashkortostan Republic, Pavel Kachkaev; the Supreme Mufti, the President of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, Talgat Tajuddin and the Head of Administration of the Oktyabrskiy District of Ufa City Municipal District, Makhmut Bikbulatov.

The Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar, congratulated his coreligionists with an important event and emphasized that he had seen nothing of this kind in Russia. Some 20 years ago one could not imagine that such a big synagogue would be built in Ufa. This testifies to the fact that Jewish people feel themselves comfortable and respected here. There is no doubt that it would be impossible without wise national policy of the President of Bashkortostan Republic.