Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin sent a letter to the Russian Federation Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov regarding the three-year contract the state had signed with the regional Ural car factory. The agreement was signed in 2007 and provided for the delivery of 8,390 vehicles to the Russian military forces in 2008-2010. The contract was worth over 11.7 billion RUR altogether.

The spokesperson for the Governor reports the factory has been meeting the contractual obligations and will deliver 2,300 vehicles to the army in 2009. However, the Governor explains in his letter to the Minister that the Defense Ministry’s Armor Department has asked for the second time to cancel the agreement, as they claim to have no money. Sumin says he is worried that shrinking state orders at an enterprise which is very nearly the only job pool in the area will result in socioeconomic disturbances in the region.

The car factory currently employs 13,891 people, while only using 39.2% of its full capacity at the moment.