TROITSK, Moscow region, June 3 (Itar-Tass) —— About 300,000 Moscow children will spend their summer vacations in city and suburban camps, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Friday.
The closure of summer camps, which earlier belonged to enterprises and organizations, was a problem, because it reduced the number of holiday facilities, he said.
Hence, the Moscow government will develop its own network of children’s summer camps in the suburbs and Central Russia, Sobyanin said. The network already includes nine suburban summer camps. The camps were in an unsatisfactory condition at the moment the Moscow government acquired them, so the city budget invested 3.5 billion rubles in the modernization and capital repairs within the past two years, the mayor said.
The Moscow government and city companies own 35 suburban resorts. Another 72 children’s camps are owned by Moscow plants affiliated to the Moscow Trade Union Federation. The city government thinks that about 140,000 children may spend their vacations in suburban camps alone. There will be 902 city camps for 51,000 children, Sobyanin said.
The families of children with disabilities and parents who cover holiday expenditures of their children from the family budget will enjoy compensations, the mayor promises. The city allocates 4.7 billion rubles for the vacation and rehabilitation of children this year, he said.
He also thinks that off-budget funds should be invested in children’s holidays. A way to attract private companies is the signing of contracts with the validity of three to five years, the mayor said.