Brief socio-economic description of Krasnoyarsk Kray

Krasnoyarsk Kray is situated in the central part of Siberia over an area of 2339,7 th.km2 (13,7% of the total area of this country). Distance from the Kray center, Krasnoyarsk, to Moscow is 3955 km. Total number of population amounts to 3,1 mln., average density - 1,3 persons per km2 - is one of the lowest among the subjects of Russian Federation and the lowest of all three Pilot regions.

Distribution of population over the Kray area is very uneven: the biggest part of it to the north of Angara river inhabits less than 1 person per km2; most densely populated (5-8 persons per 1 km2) is a narrow (100-150 km wide) strip along TransSiberian railway stretching from west to east through Krasnoyarsk.

74% of population are urban dwellers and 26% live in rural communities. The number of towns in Krasnoyarsk Kray is 25, the most important are Krasnoyarsk (1010 thousand), Norilsk (160 thousand), Atchinsk (125 thousand), Kansk (110 thousand).

The Kray is a habitat of more than 100 nationalities: Russians (88,0)%; Ukrainians (3,5%), Tatars (1,6%), Germans (1,4%), Belarussians (1,0%), Chuvashs (0,8%), native peoples (0,5%), etc.

The number of employable population engaged in forest complex totals 64,7 thousand persons or 4,7% of the Kray workforce.

Krasnoyarsk Kray has a high economic potential. The material production is dominated by industry which accounts for 70% of total revenue gained by all sectors of regional economy. The main branches of industry are fuel, electric energy, wood processing, pulp and paper, non-ferrous metals, chemical.

Relative share of forest complex in the total industrial output of Krasnoyarsk Kray equals 5,6% that is higher than in other regions of Siberia and Far East. The principal goods that determine specialisation of the Kray in Russian forest complex are lumber, pulp, wood-fibrous slabs, paper, and furniture.

The last decade was marked with sizable decrease of output in forest complex. Volume of logged timber dropped 4 times, production of lumber - 3,2 times, pulp - 6 times, etc. Introduction of new high freight tariffs isolated regional timber enterprises from their traditional consumers in central part of Russia and European markets. As a result many wood harvesting companies went bankrupt or curtailed their activity thus leaving wood processing enterprises, which used to be the backbone of Krasnoyarsk Kray economy, without raw materials.