Residents of Ulan-Ude have taken to social media to complain about the city’s newly purchased buses: apparently, the brand-new vehicles (each featuring a quote from Russian President Vladimir Putin) have been breaking down. This was first reported by the local newspaper Nomer Odin.
On October 24, the VKontakte group “Anonim 03” published a message about an “absolutely new bus, which went on the line only two or three days ago” breaking down in Ulan-Ude. Other local residents also spoke of problems with the new buses, Nomer Odin reports (comments on the VKontakte post have since been disabled).
The municipal enterprise “Gorodskye Marshruty” (City Routes) initially confirmed the reports about the breakdowns. “Unfortunately, technology has a tendency to break, even if it is new. The new buses, having left the assembly line, have covered five thousand kilometers, there were technical malfunctions, we are trying to fix everything as planned,” the municipal enterprise told Nomer Odin.
However, a few hours later, the company’s director, Alexey Kozhevnikov, stated that “there have been no recent breakdowns.” According to him, there were just two stoppages: one due to problem adjusting the clutch, which was allegedly resolved within 10 minutes, and another case in which the bus didn’t go on its planned route because the driver had a fever.
The Ulan-Ude Mayor’s Office purchased 42 new buses manufactured by the Pavlovo Bus Factor (PAZ), for the price of 4.7 million rubles each ($61,430). Each bus has a quote on it that says “Buryatia raised hardworking, talented, sincere, and open people” — the quote is attributed to “V. V. Putin.”