|
|
News from Russia |
| Heatwave triggers
disastrous fires By mid August more than 50 people had died in the fires triggered by a prolonged heatwave. Many more are thought to have been badly affected by smog which has enveloped Moscow and other areas, and in Moscow doctors have reported that the daily death rate is twice what it would be normally for that time of year. On Saturday, heavy rain came to Moscow on 14 August but dozens of wildfires were still burning around the city. According to the Emergency Situations Ministry more than 500 wildfires were continuing to burn across the country. The government has imposed a ban on grain exports until the end of the year, after the severe drought and the many wildfires had devastated crops. It said the measures were designed to keep domestic food prices under control. Russia has been one of the world's biggest producers of wheat, barley and rye, and a quarter of the country’s grain output was exported in 2009. Now the Agriculture Ministry has admitted that this year's crop is unlikely even to meet domestic demand. This year's grain crop could be as low as 60 million tonnes, well below last year's 97 million, and almost 80 million tonnes are needed to cover domestic consumption Economists have predicted that the heatwave and wildfires could cost Russian economic output around $15 billion. |
More Russians on holiday than in 2009 According to foreign travel statistics for June, the flow of Russian tourists to popular summer destinations exceeded the low level in 2009 and was higher than the better 2008 figures. Travel agents nevertheless found business profitability dropping due to stronger competition. Working on popular destinations has never yielded more than a modest 2% profit. The number of holiday-makers choosing traditional "beach" tours grew significantly in the first month of this summer: 578,500 people went to Turkey (up 20%), 75,100 to Spain (up 66%) and 36,800 to Cyprus (up 54%). This growth compensated for the losses made during the 2009 recession when, in June 2009, the number of Russians travelling to Turkey dropped by 9%, Spain by 12% and Cyprus by 19%. Data for June 2010, from the 22 countries that provided statistics, show the total number of Russians who went abroad was 1.216 million, up 30% from June 2009. It was expected that figures for July and August would see even greater increments, especially at destinations visa-free for Russians, as they sought to escape the unusual heatwave and smog from widespread fires. |
