Kurilen Inseln

(RIA Novosti am 14. März)  
Scientists say Mount Ebeko, on the island of Paramushir, is the most dangerous volcano on the Kuril Islands. The volcano started emitting vapor and gas in

February, following phases of activity in 2005, 1999 and 1998.

"Satellite monitoring has shown that the volcano is calm," the Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman said, adding that the volcano did not currently

pose a danger to Paramushir, or Severo-Kurilsk, a town only a few miles away.

However, the official said experts could not rule out vapor emissions in the future.

According to experts, there are 36 active volcanoes on the Kuril chain, and at least seven others are also considered to be dangerous.

Der Vulkan Ebeko (1156m) galt über Jahrzehnte als einer der gefährlichsten Vulkane der Kurilen. Vulkanasche gilt als sehr gefährlich für die Luftfahrt. Viele Luftstrassen zwischen Nordmaerika und Ostasien verlaufen über die Kurilen.

schreibt RIA Novosti gestern:
The Russian Foreign Ministry released a
statement Wednesday repudiating the Japanese foreign minister's comments on the disputed sovereignty of the southern Kuril Islands, and Russia's handling of the natural gas dispute with Ukraine.
The ministry called Taro Aso's statements "interference in Russia's domestic affairs" and said they "contradict the content and nature of agreements reached between Russia and Japan during their summit in November 2005."
On February 18, at an informal meeting between Cabinet ministers and public organizations, Taro Aso proposed installing special receiving equipment for residents of the four disputed South Kuril islands, to enable people to watch Japanese TV, and reach their own conclusions on where they would have better
life, in Russia or in Japan.

Russisches Aussenministerium dazu (nach RIA Novosti):
"The statements by the Japanese foreign minister made it clear that the Japanese side intends to turn a serious and sometimes complicated dialogue into unilateral public rhetoric on the problem of a peace treaty, on which Russia and
Japan have differing views," the ministry said.
The ministry advised that Japan abstain from such public statements, "which are entirely unacceptable coming from a partner nation." 

Dazu ein Kommentar von Takashi Oda (Yomiuri Shimbun)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060223TDY04003.htm

The budget will assign 1.5 billion rubles for the development of the Kuril Islands in 2006, Sakhalin Governor Ivan Malakhov told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=2898029&PageNum=0

He said the funds would help to modernize 15 large facilities on the Islands of Kunashir, Iturup, Paramushir and Shikotan, including seaports, airports and thermal power plants. Asphalt roads will be built for the first time ever, he added.

?We want Kuril residents to be comfortable and live there permanently. We want them to freely visit Sakhalin and other regions of Russia and freely come back,? Malakhov said.

The Russian administration gave close attention to the Kurils in 2005. A number of key ministers visited the islands and defined development priorities. ?Seventy-five percent of budgetary funds assigned for the Kurils in 2006 will fund the infrastructure, and 25% will fund the construction of social facilities, primarily housing. The correlation will change in favor of housing construction in a year,? he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Tuesday press conference that Russia would seek solution to disputable issues with Japan with due respect for Japanese and national interests.

RIA Novosti meldet Erdbeben und den Grund für Stromausfälle

[ Stärke 4.6 meldet das US Geological Survey für 4:05 UTC]
Russian seismologists have reported that a Russian island near Japan was hit by an earthquake early Friday. According to seismologists, the quake, which measured 3.9 on the Richter Scale, occurred at 02:06 Moscow time (11:06pm GMT) about 40 miles from the city of Yuzhno-Kurilsk, the administrative center of Kunashir Island in the southern part of the Kuril archipelago. No casualties or damage were reported. Meanwhile, Yuzhno-Kurilsk faces fuel shortages, as the local power station only has enough fuel for the coming week, news that prompted a surprised outburst from Ivan Malakhov, governor of the far-eastern Sakhalin Region, which incorporates the island. "I was told prior to January 1, 2006 that all the Kurils regions had enough fuel until the end of February," he said. "How have the South Kurils managed to use a two-month supply of fuel in January?" First Deputy Governor Sergei Sheredekin said a tanker carrying fuel for the power station was preparing to unload at the Yuzhno-Kurilsk port.