WWW Irkutsk Newsletter

ECONOMIC NEWS: POWER-GENERATION IN BAIKAL AREA REMAINS THE MOST 
PROFITABLE IN RUSSIA


3 January 2000

The personnel of the Ust-Ilimskaya hydroelectric station are currently
marking the 25th anniversary of the operational startup of its first power-
generating units. Over this period it has produced 481 billion kilowatt-hours
of electricity and has recouped its construction costs scores of times over.

Overall, during the 45 years of its existence the power-generation
system of the Irkutsk Region has turned out more than two trillion
kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is the cheapest in Russia. The electricity
tariffs in the Irkutsk Region stand at one-third of Russia's average and at half
of the tariffs in the neighbouring Krasnoyarsk Territory.

--World Reporter 


GOLD-MINERS OF IRKUTSK REGION CLAIM THIRD PLACE IN RUSSIA

Based on the results of the outgoing year, the gold-miners of the Irkutsk
Region (East Siberia) claim to hold third place in Russia's gold-mining
industry behind the Magadan Region and Krasnoyarsk Territory. To date they
have mined 12,334 kg of the precious metal, and expect this figure to go up a
bit before the end of the year. RIA Novosti learned this from Vladimir
Sklyarov, head of the Regional Administration's Department for Mineral
Resources. As much as 10,938 kg of gold was mined last year. This is the
highest in the past 85 years.

However, a sharp drop in the amount of gold mined was registered in
neighbouring Yakutia (a federal republic in the Northeast), so Irkutsk is
hoping to take its place among the three leaders in Russia's gold-mining
industry.

--World Reporter