The President in Krasnoyarsk

In class today my teacher let me know that Putin is in Krasnoyarsk. I searched on line and this is the best translation I can come up with.

"President Putin has arrived in Krasnoyarsk. He is here for a session of the State Council. The session will cover the development of transport infrastructure in Siberia. He will examine the latest information given to him regarding infrastructural development in the Krasnoyarsk territory. After examining the report from the Krasnoyarsk territory, he will be presented with plans to build a highway which bypasses all the major cities of Siberia. The highway is planned to be upgraded from Chelyabinsk to Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and then to Krasnoyarsk.

Following the State Council meeting he will meet with the Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Alexander Hloponinym. Then finally he will visit the Siberian Federal University and meet with teachers and students."

Some interesting facts:

I traveled the highway between Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Krasnoayrsk in August. The highway was best around Kemerovo, I wonder if this is a part of the project already completed. On the whole the road was quite decent. The biggest delays are in going through towns and cities, so this would be a fantastic improvement.

There have been big traffic jams in Krasnoyarsk today, probably due to many road closures to protect the President's route.

The Siberian Federal University is my University, but my invitation to tea has been declined.

I was in the rough location of the above picture at 9pm on December 31st 1999, when I heard the news on the radio that President Boris Yeltsin was resigning and that Vladimir Putin was being appointed as the caretaker President before elections in March 2000.