Almost 130 Russian Cities Are In Danger Of Extinction

Demographic problems are making themselves felt.

In Russia, 129 small towns with a total population of about 3.4 million people may disappear. Over the past ten years, the number of residents in these settlements has decreased by 314,500, according to a study by the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) commissioned by the government, writes The Moscow Times.

Northern coal, metallurgical and timber-industrial cities, as well as peripheral settlements, are experiencing the greatest difficulties. The most vulnerable are cities in the Bryansk, Novgorod, Kirov regions and Krasnoyarsk Krai, where there is a shortage of internal resources and difficulties in attracting external financing. "The crisis of industrial production and the continued pulling of the population to larger centers increase the risks of loss of settlements," the study stresses.

Verhny Tagil (Sverdlovsk region), Trubchevsk (Bryansk region), Inta (Komi), Kem and Medvezhegorsk (Karelia), Torzhok (Tver region) may be among the first to disappear - the largest population decline has been recorded there. Peripheral cities of developed regions - such as Roshal (Moscow Region), Okha (Sakhalin Region), Porkhov (Pskov Region), Zavolzhye (Nizhny Novgorod Region), Nolinsk (Kirov Region) - are also in the risk group. The reasons are employment decline, outflow of young people, closure of city-forming enterprises, aging infrastructure and lack of investment. The State Duma confirms the trend. Deputies admit: small towns suffer from the destruction of housing and public utilities, lack of transportation, medicine and communication, which scares away young specialists. For example, this situation is typical for Totma or Kargopol with a population of less than 10 thousand people.

Local residents complain that the administration has no money to repair buildings, bridges and roads, and try to fix them themselves from improvised materials.

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