PRESENT TIME AND FUTURE

At present, Yekaterinburg is one of Russia's biggest industrial centers. Its enterprises produce industrial goods for heavy machinery and chemical plant construction, for transportation, and military purposes. There are also numerous metallurgy and chemical enterprises. Verkh-Iset'metallurgical plant, Uralmash, Uralelektrotiazhmash, and Turbomotornyi Zavod production units are well known throughout the country and abroad.

Plants and factories of the former military industrial complex are being energetically converted now to produce goods for the civil sector of the national economy. Vector production unit, Ural optical and mechanical plant, Ural plant for electrical machinery, and Uraltransmash have been among the most successful in converting production to civilian uses. Yekaterinburg's railroad station is the largest in Europe, and Koltsovo Airport now has regular international flights to the Middle East, with service planned for Germany and China.

Yekaterinburg is 490 square kilometers in size. As of January 1, 1993, it had a population of 1, 356, 300, 60.5% of which is of working age.

Yekaterinburg possesses strong scientific and technological potential. The Ural Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which includes sixteen research institutes, is located here. In addition, Yekaterinburg has fifteen institutions of higher education and numerous research institutes for metallurgy and machine construction, high-tech, and military purposes. Research and development underway in the city is at a world-class level.

183 secondary schools, and more than 30 colleges, are located in Yekaterinburg. More than 15, 000 specialists graduate every year from 15 institutions of higher education. 13 Academicians and 23 corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (the highest level attainable in Russian science), and 30, 000 researchers work in Yekaterinburg's institutes.

Yekaterinburg is among the leading financial centers of the country. Its banks and insurance companies are playing an active role in the creation of a market economy. Such banks as Uralkombank, Uralpromstroibank, Uralvneshtorgbank, Zavodkombank, Uralakadembank, and the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development are most prominent among business circles. In the trade and services field, Ural Trade Company, Ural-Region, Uralbusiness, Technesis, Ural Brokerage Company, Europe-Asia Company are among the most respected. The movement toward a market economy is affecting the manufacturing sector, as well. 52 manufacturing, construction, and transportation enterprises are moving toward becoming joint stock companies and private firms, and the giant of the region, Uralmash, already has converted to joint-stock ownership. Finally, Yekaterinburg's stock exchanges and investment funds are actively contributing to the success of privatization in the city.

There are 1, 971 joint-stock companies, 12, 257 limited liability companies, 16 corporations, 109 associations, 4 consortiums, 62 banks, 36 insurance companies, 1 stock exchange, 4 commodity exchanges, and 17 investment funds operating in Yekaterinburg's non-governmental sector.

Yekaterinburg's municipal infrastructure is well established. Tram, trolleybus, and bus services connect all parts of the city, and the first line of the city's new underground metro recently opened to great fanfare. Numerous stores, restaurants, cafes, and service centers dot the city. Yekaterinburg's health system�which includes a cardiology center, a cancer treatment facility, a highly advanced radial-kerotonomy center, and a center for medical genetics�possesses the most advanced equipment.

The city contains 1, 209 shops and stores; 949 cafeterias, cafes, and restaurants; 692 service centers; and 102 post offices. There are 73.9 medical doctors and 166 hospital beds for every 10, 000 inhabitants. There are 32 tram routes, 17 trolleybus routes, and 42 bus routes. There are also 500 taxicabs.

A well-known cultural center, Yekaterinburg has dozens of public libraries, cinema theaters, and music and art schools for children. The city's philharmony, opera, ballet, playhouse, comedy and puppet theaters, and children's theater are famous throughout Russia. Unique collections contained in Yekaterinburg's art, sculpture, jewelry, and political history museums attract thousands every year. The only movie studio east of the Urals is located here. And recently, the city was selected to host a series of prestigious musical, drama, and movie festivals.

Within city limits, there are 63 public - libraries, 12 museums, 1 philharmonic orchestra, 5 theaters, and 126 movie houses.

Yekaterinburg is the center of political activity in the Urals and provides a solid base for President Yeltsin. 91% of the city's voters supported him in the 1991 elections, a national record. At the time of the August 1991 coup d'etat, the city was chosen as an alternative headquarters for the Russian government in case the democratic movement had not prevailed in Moscow. Entrepreneurs and economically active citizens of Yekaterinburg form a majority who support democracy and the drive for market reform in the country.

Yekaterinburg has 18 political parties and 15 organized social movements.

Yekaterinburg today is intensively developing economic and cultural ties with foreign countries. Representatives from German, Hungarian, Chinese, Japanese and other foreign firms work in the city, and soon an American consulate and French and Italian cultural centers will open here. Yekaterinburg enjoys a unique geographic location on the border between Europe and Asia and thus prospers from the interaction of economies from both East and West.

41 joint ventures are registered in the city. Yekaterinburg-based enterprises have permanent contacts with firms from more than 20 countries around the world.