Mayor of Yekaterinburg Arkadiy Chernetskiy presented his report on the city’s socio-economic development in 2006 to Yekaterinburg Municipal Duma deputies, laying special emphasis on problems related to heavy congestion and public transport.

‘We are going to reduce the number of vans used for public transportation; it is already becoming clear that they are a thing of the past; they did what they were supposed to do, that is, relieve a number of buses, but now we should try and acquire roomier vehicles that will be fewer in number yet capable of transferring more passengers at a time,’ the Mayor said.

‘It’s possible that some of the less busy routes will still be serviced by vans; however, local companies will have to comply with the new terms,’ he added.