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THE dawning of the free market era inRussia has plunged Siberia into a vortexof contradictions. Although the regionis a treasure house of natural resourcessuch as diamonds, gold, silver and
oil,its mining towns - established by theSoviets to harness the abundant wealth- are on the road to oblivion. Runningwater is unheard of in homes in centralSiberia, yet affluent young men
areknown to hit the unpaved roadways in$40,000 jeeps. Despair looms large inSiberia, even as tempting new marketopportunities beckon from the horizon. Siberia's plight is epitomised
byYakutia, which has the world's biggestcoal fields, much of the oil of the formerSoviet Union and a good bulk of its diamonds and tin reserves. Yet food is3 times more expensive than
in Moscowand development has flat-tyred to astandstill. In Yakutsk, the largest city inYakutia, there are hardly any pavedstreets, water pumps are the norm andthe majority of people live in
woodenouthouses. The conditions are so badthat many residents are desperate toleave. "People have been sent here withpromises that have not been kept. Everytrained person who can get a
job somewhere else is leaving," says Yakutskmayor Aleksei Tormosov. The Adjustmeni to new realities hasbeen particularly painful for those innorth Siberia, a vast expanse of tundraand
permafrost. Extra pay, vacations,subsidised food and guaranteed pensions lured people to this area, whichhad thousands of small mining townswith nearly I I million residents just2 years ago.
With the collapse of thecommunist regime, however, thedreams turned sour and at least I milhoe resbdent, are estimated to have fledOfficials, fFear dw anodber I milhon willleave next vrar.
Verkboyansk, 644 kmnorth of Yakutsk, dns;p4aKs all the signsof a dercha town. 2 haif-built day camcentre, an emptv space for a proposeds;choot, mad a pde of bncks whew a bakery was to be
build. Yet Siberia has lost none of itsattraction tor evurepreneurs- The possibility of expo Y2kutsk's famed dia-mond, gold or phosphate reservesattract& pcopk m drovv& And
sateflueand ceflular telephones have made anappearance ia Khabwovsk near theManchurian border. However, government his donefittle to boom Siberia's economyAlthough the Russian
authorities havepledged tax breaks and sub6idies; forbusiness, htdc action has been takenThis year, the Russian parliamentsharply cut sub6idies to, the northernterritories by nearly haff -
fromS4_75 billion to, $2.75 Hilion. For thepeople of Siberia, this is worse thanterminal frostbite.