Artyom Zhoga, former commander of the DPR Sparta militia battalion and presidential envoy to the Ural Federal District, told TASS at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) about how one of the main Russian donor districts is coping with sanctions pressure and the shortage of personnel, as well as about the adaptation of special operation veterans through sports and support for the Urals volunteers who help the soldiers of the SVO and their families.
— Artem Vladimirovich, one of the key sectors of the Ural Federal District's economy is the oil and gas sector. Tell us, how does this industry feel in the Urals under the conditions of sanctions and unprecedented pressure?
— Yes, the Ural Federal District is a key supplier of hydrocarbons, as it produces 40% of the total oil production in the Russian Federation and 80% of the gas. In the face of sanctions pressure from the international community, our manufacturers are finding new ways to sell their products and new markets. Currently, the challenge for the industry is that more than 60% of the Russian Federation's oil reserves are difficult to recover. Accordingly, a lot of work is underway to apply new technologies in the field of mining, develop and implement new methods, and develop incentive mechanisms to develop this sector.
The Embassy supports all producers in the oil and gas industry, and both federal and regional programs are being implemented. We are completely immersed in their work and we help them. I regularly visit companies myself — a lot of work is going on in this direction.
— Speaking of the economy, it is impossible not to ask a question about the shortage of personnel. What is it like in the Ural Federal District? Has the staff shortage decreased or increased in the last six months?
— The personnel situation is difficult throughout the country. There are a lot of support measures at the federal and regional levels to solve this problem.
There are professional development and employee training programs. There is serious support for special vocational education, because the analysis shows that up to 80% of the total needs of industrial enterprises are precisely working specialties. The popularization of secondary vocational education leads to the closure of the shortage of personnel. The programs that we carry out jointly with enterprises and regional governments help to solve these issues.
Thanks to this, for example, in the manufacturing sector, the situation with personnel needs has been stabilized over the past six months. Today, about 1.7 million people work in the industrial sector of the Ural Federal District.
— You also raised the issue that it is important to modernize workplaces in factories, adapting them to the needs of our children with disabilities, because sometimes we are talking about limited health opportunities. How is this work conducted at the district's enterprises?
— There are instructions from the president on the adaptation and socialization of military personnel participating in a special military operation. An action Plan has been approved to stimulate their employment rate. It provides for a set of measures for professional development, retraining, and acquisition of new competencies and skills. In addition, within the framework of the national project "Personnel", federal support is provided for employers in the creation of such special jobs — subsidies in the amount of up to 200 thousand rubles for each. Therefore, enterprises are included in this agenda. Jobs are being created for children with injuries that limit their opportunities.
— About the support of military personnel: you asked the heads of regions and local authorities to pay more attention to the request from volunteers — they know exactly what our military needs, and we need to respond more to this. Among other things, a special platform was created for these purposes — the Patriots of the Urals forum. How does it work, is it possible to find contact between the volunteers and the authorities?
— Last October, when I first arrived in the Urals as the plenipotentiary, I received a lot of appeals on VKontakte from volunteers and caring people who helped the front and produced technical equipment for conducting military operations. There was a huge request for meetings. The volunteers talked about the difficulties they faced, and it was decided to organize an event with all the activists, which is how the idea to create a forum was born.
We held the first one in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Sverdlovsk region, and it gathered about 500 people. In principle, many of the issues that people had were resolved directly on his site. Because we also involved the administration, the government, and the departments of the permanent mission in these matters.
We already held the second forum in the Chelyabinsk region, within the walls of the Ural plant. It was also quite fruitful, not only our six regions of the Ural Federal District participated, 11 regions of the country were involved. It turned out not only "Patriots of the Urals", but "Patriots of Russia". The specialists of the Popular Front were also involved, who hold a technical council and make recommendations on the need for an invention of the national military-industrial complex. Moreover, many of the products that were presented at the forum are already performing combat missions, have been contracted and make it easier for our guys to work at the front. A chat "Patriots of the Urals" has also been created, in which people communicate with each other, share some problematic issues — we solve them. And on June 27, the third forum will be held at the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg, its topics will be psychological assistance, socialization of military personnel participating in their military operations, as well as assistance to the families of our children, whom, unfortunately, we have lost.
— You pay a lot of attention to the issue of adaptive sports. Do you think that the enterprises of the Urals can be involved in the production of special sports equipment that will help our children with special needs and injuries to play sports — amateur, professional? And in general, how did the heads of the regions of the Ural Federal District respond to your proposal to pay more attention to this?
— The review is very good. This is really necessary, because the fastest and easiest rehabilitation of children from the front is through sports, through communication, through some common activities. Especially for the guys who were injured. The heads, of course, responded to the offer.
The Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation Winter Sports Cup was held in Khanty-Mansiysk in March, and a lot of children were attracted. And the veterans of the special operation could feel the excitement right there — the sparkle in their eyes. And after this event, there was a big request from the fighters to use not only adaptive sports. As a result, it was decided to hold the Cup of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Ural Federal District for Defenders of the Fatherland, which will be held in August. The Tyumen Region will host this tournament. The first participants have already appeared. I am sure that very strong teams will be represented.
As for the equipment, of course, import substitution needs to be done now. There are enterprises in the Urals that produce such equipment. After all, imported analogues are expensive and difficult to purchase due to sanctions. Therefore, in principle, production in the Urals is developing and increasing. I am sure that in the near future, a lot of samples will be presented at our venues specifically for children who are engaged in adaptive sports.
Junia Aleeva, Maria Popova
