‘Sverdlovsk Region received 1.650 million square meters of housing last year, while this year’s program provides for 2 million square meters of housing, 112 kilometers of highways, eight hospitals, a dozen schools, three kindergartens, and 20 kilometers of power transmission lines,’ head of the regional division of the state construction monitoring authorities Ivan Rabtsevitch announced at a press conference on March 18, 2008.

‘The region has over 2,000 construction sites at the moment, most of which have serious quality problems. About 20% of all the buildings do not meet the obligatory construction technological regulations. Then, the construction of 110 buildings and roads in Sverdlovsk Region (including 50 buildings in Yekaterinburg) had to be stopped, while the design of over 200 socially important buildings currently under construction needs to be improved. Some projects haven’t been approved of by the board of experts; others lack construction permits, while still others have no official papers at all. Unless we take some strict measures at once, the region’s construction project for 2008 might fall through,’ he said.

Mr. Rabtsevitch reported a number of builders had already been sued.

‘As for the construction program targeted at getting ready for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, it has a clear structure, but things haven’t always been smooth. For one, eight new objects have to be put up alongside Koltsovo highway, and the builders have been telling the Governor they meet the schedule just fine. The truth is, however, only one out of eight objects is actually under construction at the moment,’ he noted.