Russia: Sakhalin Region media highlights 27 Feb - 5 Mar 06.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

The following highlights are from the GTRK Sakhalin TV and Alternative Sakhalin TV (ASTV) news, Sakh.com news wire and ASTV-Inform website for the period 27 February - 5 March 2006:

Political

Sakhalin governor Ivan Malakhov introduced his representative in the Central District (Rus: okrug, comprising several central districts), Georgiy Mitrik, and the new head of Poronayskiy District administration, Sergey Shatunov, to the heads of federal, regional and municipal executive bodies at an open meeting of the regional administration on 22 February.

Mitrik previously acted as head of the Poronaysk administration. He will now oversee Poronayskiy, Uglegorskiy, Makarovskiy and Tomarinskiy districts. Shatunov was appointed head of administration by the deputies of the Poronayskiy District assembly. He was previously involved in business. (Sakh.com news wire, 0058 gmt 28 Feb 06)

A public reception office of the Russian president's envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District opened in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on 28 February. The chief federal inspector for Sakhalin Region, Sergey Zaritskiy, said that this office should not become a "depository of people's complaints" but take real action and help people. No fixed work schedule for the new public reception office has been published yet but the first visitors will be received there already on 14 March.

The office will not limit its work just to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Approximately once every three months, an initiative group will travel to the region's districts in order to study the real situation there. (GTRK Sakhalin TV "Vesti Sakhalin-Kurily" news, 1030 gmt 28 Feb 06)

Governor Ivan Malakhov has approved a draft contract to develop a special federal programme "The socioeconomic development of the Kuril Islands (Sakhalin Region …