Recent St. Petersburg tricentennials came as a tourist boom. Yaroslavl celebrations have every chance to get on a similar scale, Mr. Gref said to a committee maiden session, yesterday.
The session brought together regional governor Anatoly Lisitsyn, Mayor Viktor Volonchunas, and many federal functionaries, in particular, Igor Levitin, Transport Minister, and Mikhail Shvydkoi, Culture and Cinematography Agency chief.
The conferees determined to specify a preparatory program within January, and draft a related government statement, both to be offered to the federal Cabinet for consideration within the initial quarter-year.
The municipal program has the following top priorities-to pull down dilapidated residential houses, lay several highways, and build an automobile bridge across the Volga, an international airport, and a number of hotels.
With its eventful history, Yaroslavl is a cluster of monuments of a federal purport, pointed out Mr. Gref. An approximate two billion ruble federal allocation has been earmarked for city center maintenance and redecoration, regional and municipal grants to add to the sum (today's Central Bank rate is R27.77/$1).
Yaroslavl, a beauty spot on the Volga bank, is an honorable part of the Golden Ring tourist itinerary in Central Russia, which comprises the ancient towns of Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl Zalessky, Rostov Veliky, Vladimir, Kostroma and Suzdal.
