The consequences of the February 15, 2013 meteorite in the Chelyabinsk region have not yet been eliminated
On February 20, 2013, the consequences of the meteorite in the Chelyabinsk region of February 15, 2013 have not yet been eliminated. The amount of damage is increasing continuously.
“There are companies where 50% of the glass windows in manufacturing workshops were damaged. The biggest economic impact will be with the insurers, because there are a lot of insurance claims,” Valery Gartung, Vice-Chairman of the Industry Committee of the State Duma, says. “There will be financial problems, because last year was very hard for the region due to the global economic crisis and Russia's accession to the WTO, which has hit the Chelyabinsk region. The federal center should help not only with the aftermath of the meteorite, but also with the aftermath of the Russian government's actions. I'm talking about joining the WTO, increasing rates of insurance payments, they were raised to 30%. I think it will hit the economy in all regions, not only in the Chelyabinsk region, so I think that more support is needed. It was stated that the region will receive 500 million, I believe that the losses will be much more than that; you need to make calculations and apply to the federal center for support.”
“The damage in budget payments will be about a billion,” Mikhail Yurevich, Head of the Chelyabinsk Region, states. “We appealed to the Russian government for 500 million rubles, but it is clear that the damage will be more than that. This damage completely ignores the private sector, the commercial sector. In many plants, in large shops with old large window units, the glass was almost entirely broken. Naturally, many cafes, shops and restaurants were affected, but the private sector had to be insured. Whoever is insured should get reimbursement. Yet the unplanned losses will reduce income tax, so less income tax will come to the regional budget. But I think it would have no effect on the rate of economic growth, or the influence will be minimal.”
“The consequences of this cosmic cataclysm are sufficiently serious,” Konstantin Tsypko, Federation Council member, a representative from the Chelyabinsk region, is sure. “Despite the fact that the cataclysm had a universal character, the problem arrived from outer space, the Chelyabinsk region coped with it. There are economic consequences not only in Russia but also worldwide. Both the Russian government and the international community pay special attention to the asteroid threat and the need to protect the planet Earth as a whole from the dangers that space objects pose. I think it will result in increased investments in science and technology that can provide early warning or will affect asteroids, meteors, comets, so they will not reach the Earth. Another thing is that Chelyabinsk is now the safest place on earth, because it is unlikely that a meteor will hit the same spot a second time. The positive effect is that the residents of Chelyabinsk can be safe for the next hundred years. It is logical to hold an international conference with the participation of heads of state to discuss the problem of an asteroid threat to Earth. Chelyabinsk is the first city in the history of our civilization that has survived a space attack.”
Adapted from: Vestnik Kavkaza