俄罗斯：州长特批“怀孕日”鼓励夫妇造人

A child looks up from a cot at Hospital No. 15 in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, Russia, February 5, 2007. [Reuters]

The governor of a central Russian province urged couples to skip work on Wednesday and make love instead to help boost Russia's low birth-rate.

And if a woman gives birth in exactly nine months time -- on Russia's national day on June 12 -- she will qualify for a prize, perhaps even winning a new home.

"It's normally something for the home -- a fridge or a television set," Yelena Yakovleva at the Ulyanovsk regional administration press office, said.

"It doesn't matter if it's a girl or a boy."

Newly-weds Karina and Anton Bukhanovsky walked hand in hand down the main street of the regional capital of Ulyanovsk. They live in St Petersburg but travelled to Ulyanovsk to soak up the atmosphere on Wednesday.

"I used to live here," said Karina, aged 19.

"We plan to come back on the same day next year and try for a baby and the prize nine months later," she said.

Anton, aged 21, kissed her gently on the cheek and they strolled off arm in arm.

Regional governor Sergei Morozov told employers to contribute to a Kremlin campaign to boost the birth rate by giving young couples Wednesday off to have sex.

Russia wants to reverse a trend in which the population is shrinking by about 700,000 people a year as births fail to outpace a high death rate boosted by AIDS, alcoholism and suicide.

This is the third year Ulyanovsk region has dedicated a day to encouraging couples to produce more babies.

Prizes will extend equally to unwed women who produce children on the right day, though the biggest prizes will go to married couples.

On Russia Day this year, a family won a jeep after their fourth baby was born on the holiday.

Next year, the top prizes will include an apartment, Morozov said.

This year a record 78 babies were born on June 12 at the main hospital in the regional capital of Ulyanovsk, beating the 2006 total of 26, said chief doctor Andrei Malykh.

俄罗斯中部某州州长要求已婚夫妇们本周三（9月12日）休假一天，在家“造人”，为提高俄罗斯的出生率做点贡献。

如果一名妇女恰好在九个月后俄罗斯的国庆日（6月12日）那天生产，她将获得奖励，甚至将有可能得到一套新房。

乌里扬诺夫斯克州地方政府新闻办公室的叶丽娜．雅克夫勒维说：“奖品通常是家居用品，比如冰箱或电视机。”

“生男生女都能得到奖励。”

新婚夫妇卡丽娜和安顿．布克哈诺维斯基手牵着手走在乌里扬诺夫斯克州首府的大街上。他们居住在圣彼得堡，周三特意到乌里扬诺夫斯克去感受一下“气氛”。

19岁的卡丽娜说：“我以前住在这里。”

“我们打算明年的这一天再回来，想九个月后生个宝宝、拿个奖。”

21岁的安顿轻吻了一下卡丽娜的脸颊，两人手挽着手在大街上漫步。

乌里扬诺夫斯克州州长瑟盖．莫洛佐夫呼吁公司老板们响应政府提高出生率的计划，要求他们周三给年轻夫妇们放假一天，在家“造人”。

艾滋病、酗酒和自杀所导致的高死亡率超过了出生率。目前，俄罗斯的人口数量以每年约70万人的速度递减，政府希望能扭转这一趋势。

这是乌里扬诺夫斯克州第三年实行“造人日”计划。

如果未婚妈妈恰好在国庆日那一天生产，也能获得奖励，但头等大奖将颁给已婚夫妇。

在今年的俄罗斯国庆日这一天，一个家庭迎来了他们的第四个孩子，获得了一辆吉普车的奖励。

莫洛佐夫说，明年的头奖中将有一套房子。

据主任医师安德烈·马利卡介绍，今年6月12日，共有78个婴儿在乌里扬诺夫斯克州首府的中心医院出生，超过去年的26个，创下新纪录。