Russia to have 9 time zones from Sept 1

MOSCOW, September 1 (Itar-Tass) - Nine time zones will be established
in Russia from September 1. The most distant zones from Moscow - plus 8
hours to Moscow time - will be Kamchatka, Magadan and Sakhalin.
The term "time zone" is replacing the "time belt." In March, Russia
for the last time put the clock ahead one hour transferring to the "summer
time." Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced the decision to cancel
the transition to the "winter time." "I took the decision to cancel the
transition to 'winter time' starting from this autumn and give the
relevant instructions to the government," he said.
Medvedev stressed that "the need to adapt (to the clock setting)
causes stress and illnesses," so the cancellation of such transition would
be useful. The problem of transition to "summer-winter" time concerns all
people, the president said, recalling that in his state-of-the-nation
address to the Federal Assembly in 2009 he touched upon this issue, which
became a subject of serious research.
In addition, it is planned to transfer on 30 October 2011 at 2:00 a.m.
the Primorsky Territory and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to the 7th
time zone (plus six hours to Moscow time), and the Irkutsk region - to the
5th time zone (plus four hours to Moscow time). These regions are
currently one hour ahead of Moscow time.
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