Social problems of single-industry towns in Eastern Siberia during 1990s (according to the periodical materials)

About the author:

Tatiana P. Urozhaeva, Cand. Sci. (Hist.), Laboratory of Historical Demography, Irkutsk State University; olgoy@ya.ru

Abstract:

The article outlines that due to the transformed economy the cities of Eastern Siberia appeared in the most difficult social and economic situation arising from such objective conditions as severe climatic conditions, remoteness and inaccessibility, high dependence on an economic complex on the imported production among others. The crisis in economy and social sphere most sharply affected the position of the cities created on the basis of the city-forming enterprises. The developed situation threatened especially the existence of small and medium cities and could lead to irreversible consequences for the economy of the region, which played the defining role in the stabilization of the social and economic situation in the Russian Federation. The problem was not in the growth of the cities of Eastern Siberia, but in preserving their settlement status and creating their functional structure in compliance with the requirements of the territorial and sectorial economy organization and prospects of the region economic development. The recession of outputs and products sales of the city-forming enterprises led to the decrease in local taxable base. Such factors, as the lack of funds in the cities budgets for the development of municipal infrastructure, salaries payment to workers of the budget sphere and public service, and fuel, are the key factors in defining economic and social situation of mono-industrial cities of the region.

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