Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin decided not to declare the town of Karabash insolvent and therefore subject to external management after he’d been presented with an emergency action plan prepared by Mayor of Karabash Mussa Dzugaev.

The issue was brought about by the fact that the new legislation on self-government gives Mr. Sumin the right to declare failing municipalities insolvent and subject to external management. On the whole, the Governor was quite dissatisfied with the Mayor’s performance. ‘The town has been faced with a lot of difficulties in terms of the environment, infrastructure, housing construction and the payment of wages,’ he said.

The Governor gave Mr. Dzugaev another chance: the Mayor is to achieve improvements before this September, with a major inspection to be conducted in Karabash in January 2008.

'I don’t mean to punish the Mayor, my intention is to make sure the town dwellers have decent living conditions,’ Mr. Sumin stated.