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The Russian head of state asked the governor to provide assistance to the families of victims of the Tu-154 air disaster near Donetsk, and said that he has approached the Chairman of the Russian Government with the same request.

In return, Matviyenko stated that the city was doing everything possible to help the relatives of the victims. The St. Petersburg Governor asked the President to thank the Ukrainian government for the help and support provided in organizing the efforts at the Tu-154 airliner crash site.

Matviyenko also reported on the socio-economic development of the city, stating that in the first six months the growth rate was 8.5% for the GRP (gross regional product) and 6.5% for industrial production. Local authorities are successfully dealing with the issue of salary and pension increases. According to Matviyenko, by January 1, 2007 pensions should exceed the subsistence level as a result of additional subsidies allotted from the city budget. For public sector employees this problem was settled at the beginning of this year.

Major infrastructure projects are underway in St. Petersburg. At the moment the eastern semi-circle of the city ring road is being completed; construction of the western sector is proceeding at the same time. Construction of a dike to protect the city against floods has begun.

The deficit of electric power generating capacities remains one of the acute problems on St. Petersburg’s development agenda. The city administration is actively cooperating with United Energy Systems of Russia (RAO UES) to solve this problem. A jointly drawn-up program with funding of up to 300 million rubles would help to finally solve this problem by 2010.