"I made a trip about the city, and saw it preparing apace. That's good. I have certain apprehensions, however. The preparations started too late and the city is badly pressed for time," the minister said to a news briefing to sum up his one-day visit to Kaliningrad.
"I have spotted many problems which lie within municipal, regional and federal competence on the boundary where they all meet," he remarked.
The celebrations are scheduled to start July 1. If authorities fail to do something by that deadline, the works may go on even after the anniversary, Mr. Gref added.
The celebrations will take three days early in July. The opening day will be dedicated to the city's history, the next to Russia, and the closing to Europe. Municipal allocations on the celebrations hardly exceed 3.5 billion rubles ($1=28.09 rubles).
Russia overtook Kaliningrad after World War II on the Potsdam agreement. Previously a German city, it was named Koenigsberg. The Teutonic Knights founded it as a fortress on the site of Twangste, an ancient settlement. The city, a merger of three small towns close to the fortress, eventually joined the Hanseatic league. It was center of East Prussia under the Third Reich.
