Employment of Population
In 2008, the share of the population employed in economic sectors of the Republic of Komi fell to 55 % (528 thousand people) of the total republican population. Most of the people (80 %) work in the urban areas mainly in Syktyvkar, Vorkuta and Ukhta (56%).
42 % of all the people employed in the economic sectors work in spheres of transport and communications (12.6 %), fossil fuel extraction (7.2 %), coal mining (2.6 %), oil and natural gas extraction (4.5 %), manufacturing (8.2 %) and construction (7.1 %).
In 2008, 394.6 thousand people worked in companies of various forms of ownership (self-employed entrepreneurs are not included).
Oil and gas industries, logging, construction, transport and trade are main economic sectors with a foreign labour power intake.
Social Partnership
The social partnership system of the Republic of Komi is as follows:
the Trilateral Commission of the Republic of Komi on Socio-Labour Relations Control;
municipal trilateral commissions on socio-labour relations control established in 20 cities and districts of the Republic of Komi;
the Regional Agreement on Socio-Economic Issues between the Government of the Republic of Komi, Federation of Trade Unions of the Republic of Komi and Union of Industrialists, Entrepreneurs and Employers of the Republic of Komi for 2007-2009;
territorial tripartite agreements on socio-economic issues;
6 regional industrial agreements;
15 territorial industrial agreements: in spheres of education (10), culture (4), coal industry (1) and some other agreements;
694 collective agreements involving 45 % of the people working at Komi enterprises, companies and institutions.
Demographic Situation
As of January 1, 2009, the population of the Republic of Komi amounted to 958.5 thousand people.
In 2008, due to the 2.5% birth-rate increase, the natural loss of the population fell by 29.4 %. As for the child mortality, it went down by 11.5 %.
Public Health
In the Republic of Komi there are organizations and institutions exercising various powers in sphere of public health. They have different medical treatment objectives and tasks.
The public health system of the Republic of Komi consists of:
hands-on medical treatment organizations and institutions (policlinic outpatient/inpatient departments, stationary institutions, dispensaries, health centres, sanatoria, etc.);
organizations exercising the supervisory responsibilities (territorial bodies of the Federal Service for Public Health and Social Development Supervision and Federal Service for Protection of Consumers and Human Welfare in the Republic of Komi);
organizations and institutions supporting medical treatment activities: state and municipal (budget and insurance) pharmacy chains, public health departments, transport and logistics companies, etc.
The amount of the work on medical treatment is being currently redistributed from the hospitals to polyclinic institutions, dispensaries and outpatient departments.
There is Syktyvkar medical college (Syktyvkar), 2 secondary medical schools (Vorkuta and Ukhta) and Komi branch of Kirov State Medical Academy (Syktyvkar) providing training of the paramedical personnel and physicians in the Republic of Komi.
Education
The educational system of the Republic Komi secures the right of all the citizens to get a pre-school education, basic and intermediate (full) general education and elementary, intermediate and higher vocational education.
As of January 1, 2008, there were 558 pre-school educational institutions in the Republic of Komi. The modern system of the republican pre-school education are multifunctional educational facilities providing general development of the children, care and health improvement. There are also combined pre-school educational institutions and child development centres.
There are 440 state and municipal full-time comprehensive institutions and 14 evening comprehensive institutions training 98.2 and 3.4 thousand people, respectively. There are also 15 grammar schools (6.75 thousand pupils) and 10 lyceums (2.99 thousand pupils) in the Republic of Komi providing enhanced training.
69 comprehensive institutions of the Republic of Komi are currently conducting core training. Pre-vocational and vocational training is being provided by 50 republican comprehensive institutions.
Basic vocational training in the Republic of Komi is provided by 17 institutions of elementary vocational education (9.4 thousand students) and 6 institutions of intermediate vocational education (3.1 thousand students).
There are 20 state institutions of intermediate vocational education in the Republic of Komi training 17.5 thousand students.
As for higher education, 6 higher education establishments and 21 branches of various institutes operate in the Republic of Komi. 36.4 thousand students are being currently trained there.
Syktyvkar State University, the Komi Teachers' Training Institute, Syktyvkar Forest Institute (Komi branch of Kirov Forest Technical Academy, Saint Petersburg) and Ukhta State Technical University are key higher education establishments in the Republic of Komi.
Social Safety Net
In the Republic of Komi there are federal (92 thousand people) and regional (104.9 thousand people) registers of the citizens who can count on the social support.
Since 2008 the social support measures on housing and public utility services payments have been granted in money terms. The share of the republican budget amounted to RUR 1011.3 bln. The share of the federal budget fell to RUR 360.2 bln.
There are 166 foster homes in the Republic of Komi bringing up 394 children.
The existing network of social service institutions in the Republic of Komi is aimed at supplying social, consumer, medical, legal, psychological and rehabilitation services. There are 21 integrated social service centres, 6 convalescent centres for physically challenged people, 2 halfway houses for the persons of no fixed abode, income and job, 15 stationary institutions for adults and handicapped children, 13 centers of social support to families and children and 20 specialized institutions for minors operating in the Republic of Komi.
Culture and Art
There is a well-developed network of institutions of culture and art in the Republic of Komi including 5 theatres, a philharmonic hall, 371 libraries, 409 recreation centres, 9 cinemas and 20 museums. There are also 52 extended education institutions and 3 specialized secondary schools in the republic.
The key republican theatres are Victor Savin State Drama Theatre, State Opera and Ballet Theatre, National Music and Drama Theatre and Vorkuta State Drama Theatre.
As for the museums, there are 17 local history museums, a Museum of Arts, a Memorial Museum and a Museum of Theatre. The Komi museum fund numbers 582085 stock units. There are restoration facilities in the Republic of Komi as well.
The Republic of Komi is also well-known for its folk crafts developed such as wood carving and painting, artistic birch-barking, wattling, weaving, patterned knitting, lace, clay processing, leather and fur treatment, embroidery and folk dolls making.
In 2008 there were 397 cultural heritage objects in the Republic of Komi. 71 of them are objects of the federal significance. There have been discovered 880 objects more. Most of them are archaeological monuments and 45 objects have signs of the cultural heritage objects.
Physical Training and Sports
There are 2127 sports facilities in the Republic of Komi such as sports grounds and fields (720), gyms (780), swimming pools (37), stadiums (8) and ski depots (118). 191 thousand people (19.7 % of the total population) are members of various sports groups and attend sports and recreation centres.
Syktyvkar State University, the Institute of Physical Training, Sports and Tourism under Ukhta State Technical University and Syktyvkar Teachers' Training College provide training of specialists in sphere of sports, physical training and tourism. In 2008, 161 regional and 29 All-Russian sports events took place in the Republic of Komi.
Tourism
There are 72, mainly outbound tourism oriented, travel agencies in the Republic of Komi. At the same time the domestic travel sector is being actively promoted. Ethnographic, informative, village and eco-tours are becoming more and more popular. The Weathering Columns, a unique nature object on the Plateau of Manpupuner in Troitsko-Pechorsky District, are of tourists' special interest. In June 2008, the Weathering Columns became one of the Seven Wonders of Russia.
A number of domestic travel and inbound tourism projects are being currently developed in the Republic of Komi. Among them there is Finno-Ugric Ethnocultural Park Project, Yaksha Guest Tourist Village Project (Troitsko-Pechorsky District), Priluzie Scarlet Ribbon Project (Priluzsky District) and Guest House Project (Ust-Tsilma District).
