Promotion of ASR international and regional relations became the key issue within the period under consideration. Signing of cooperation agreements with company “Renova-StroyGroup” and the German Builders Union was positively perceived by mass media; one can add that both federal and regional mass media gave coverage to these events.
Summary
December: Summing up the outcomes one can point out the following significant peculiarities:
according to the absolute data of the quantitative and qualitative analyses the following trend can be traced: the number of ASR related materials increased, which testifies to the increase in mass media activity; there is continuous growth of the number of positive references, which is due to the fact that mass media gave positive coverage to ASR related events.
Promotion of ASR international and regional relations became the key issue within the period under consideration. Signing of cooperation agreements with company “Renova-StroyGroup” and the German Builders Union was positively perceived by mass media; one can add that both federal and regional mass media gave coverage to these events.
Generally, the fact is that this event has exerted significant influence upon the positive character of the information field related to the Association.
Analyzing other issues related to ASR activities, which were covered by mass media it is important to note that the company’s activities are basically perceived positively. Mass media gave wide coverage to the comments by the top management and representatives of the Association, practically all significant issues are commented on, the activities of the Builders Association of Russia are reflected in a proper way.
There are still no problematic and negative materials, which contributes to the positive image of the company.
General dynamics of the ASR activities coverage
Figure 1. shows the chronological diagram concerning references to the Builders Association of Russia in Russia's mass media pool (all sources of information).
Analyzing the overall average one can notice that December saw constant interest of mass media in ASR activities – the number of materials amounted to 12-14 daily, which is actually equal to the figure of the second half of November (13-15 materials). In comparison with the previous month December witnessed stabilization of the average number of publications.
Figure 1.
The diagram shows a sharp increase in interest displayed by mess media in ASR activities on December, the 11th. This occurred due to a major event, i.e., ASR appeal to First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. In its appeal ASR distinctly specified the most urgent problems related to urban engineering. The following issues were discussed most frequently by mass media representatives in December:
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promotion of ASR international and regional relations;
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self regulation in the construction industry;
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implementation of the national program “Affordable and comfortable housing”;
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elaboration of uniform technique regulations “On safety of buildings, constructions, structures and near-by territories”.
As for the rest, all “peaks” and “sinks” are wholly due to the temporal factor: i.e., an increase in mass media activities occurs at the beginning of the week, the time characterized by “accumulation” of news, while “sinks” are registered at weekends.
Qualitative analysis of information field
Figure 2 shows a pie diagram containing different types of mass media, which provided an area-specific coverage.
As one can learn from the diagram, Internet editions still dominate the information pool – within the period under consideration the number of publications considerably increased in comparison with November. Electronic mass media, the greatest percentage of which being area-specific sources, remain providers of current information on a par with news agencies, giving coverage to all major events related to ASR and the construction industry in general.
Figure 2. Mass media structure
News agencies – 9 %, TV and radio – 3 %, Federal press – 12 %, Regional press – 5 %, Internet editions – 62 %, Area-specific press – 9 %.
The share of news agencies in comparison with the previous month considerably decreased, however, this information pool was the first to give coverage to current issues related to promotion of ASR international and regional relations – signing of cooperation agreements with company “Renova-StroyGroup” and the German Builders Union.
Federal printed editions still retain leading positions in terms of analytical articles giving a comprehensive coverage to ASR activities. Besides, due to its specific character this mass media pool serves as a provider of various interviews, which, in their turn, more or less penetrate other types of mass media. One can say that it is the federal press that exerts the greatest influence upon ASR information image. In December the Association was mentioned in federal editions in connection with the following issues: sale of OJSC “Moskvich”, HR challenges in the construction industry, forecasts of real estate price growth, etc.
The number of publications in the area-specific press increased considerably: these editions give coverage to the most remarkable events in the construction industry and conduct market analyses in some way or other referring to the Builders Association of Russia. In December the area-specific press paid special attention to the forecasts for the next year.
The share of the regional press decreased considerably. Regional mass media still discuss signing of a cooperation agreement between ASR and the government of the Murmansk Region, dwell upon development of the construction industry and real estate price dynamics in regions. Figure 3 shows the regions characterized by the greatest activity displayed by press in December.
Figure 3. St.Petersburg – 13, Ekaterinburg – 6, Omsk- 4, Nizyhny Novgorod -2, Ufa - 2
TV and radio are represented by six publications, among them one can point out the interview given by N. Koshman for TV programs “Gorodskoye sobranie” (City meeting) and “Delovaya Moskva” (Business Moscow) on Channel TVC , in which ASR President commented on cancellation of licensing in the construction industry.
The total number of references within the period under consideration amounted to 199; in comparison with November (199) January witnessed an increase in the number of mass media publications.
Basically, December witnessed positive and neutral references in mass media. This occurred due to newsbreaks related to promotion of ASR international and regional relations and ASR participation in elaboration of a draft law on self regulation in the construction industry. Negative references were not traced in the mass media information pool, as well as in November.
Figure 4. Structure of references – Positive – 61 %, Neutral – 39 %, Negative – 0 %.
Personalities: the main players in the information field
ASR President Nikolai Koshman again became the leading newsmaker of December. The considerable part of materials published within the period under consideration was based upon his remarks and comments.
Figure 5. ASR Newsmaking. N. Koshman – 77, V. Ponomarev – 18, S. Polonsky – 5, A. Samoilov – 4, V. Shvets – 4, M. Kaikov – 3, V. Telichenko – 2, I. Dmitriev – 2, P. Goryachkin -1, L. Kazinets -1.
Practically all materials dedicated to the draft law on self regulating organizations actively quoted ASR President. Taking into account the fact that coverage of the above mentioned draft law in mass media can be considered key issue of the month in terms of the quantity of the references, it is perfectly clear that the greatest percentage of all publications mentioning ASR and Nikolai Koshman quoted his comments on the issue:
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The law will determine criteria for construction companies
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80 per cent of housing facilities are constructed today at the expense of interest-holders. To prevent penetration of new swindlers into the market companies need self regulation. I am not sure whether the problems of deceived interest-holders can be solved at the expense of federal and regional authorities – there is not a single penny budgeted to solve this problem.
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Nowadays the construction community possesses all necessary resources for regulating the industry, solving national and regional tasks in the construction industry. A self regulating organization is able to create the situation when construction companies are responsible before consumers of their services by working out mechanisms of corporate responsibility, establishing compensation funds, introducing the scheme of compulsory insurance of construction risks, etc.
At the end of December the Builders Association of Russia and company “Renova-StroyGroup” signed a cooperation agreement. Mass media quoted N. Koshman, who commented on this event:
ASR Vice President Vladimir Ponomarev occupied the second position among the newsmakers of the month. The majority of his comments are devoted to forecasts of real estate price dynamics and implementation of the national program “Affordable houses”:
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In the near future the prices will grow slower, not more than by 2 per cent per month. However, in general the situation is going to be complicated: the surplus demand for houses amounts to 35-50 per cent. And only after we increase the amount of housing facilities, which are erected every year, at least by 13-15 per cent per annum, the situation will change.
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…the main reason of difficulties arising in the process of implementing the program ”Affordable houses” is fatal errors made in the course of its development”, Ponomarev said. “It barely defines the notion of comfortable and affordable houses”. According to Vladimir Ponomarev the first stage of the national program implementation coincided with the inefficient administrative reform, which caused unmanageability of the construction industry as the majority of efficient personnel from the Federal Agency for Construction, Housing and Public Utilities and the Ministry of Regional Development changed their jobs.
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… in order not to turn a national housing program into another embarrassment its concept should be thoroughly reconsidered and complemented with regard to the opinions of the business community and experts in the construction industry. If we fail to work out the mechanism of cooperation between the society and the government, the state and the business sphere we will have to forget about implementation of the national program”.
December, the 22nd, at the meeting of the commission for prospective development and urban engineering deputies of Moscow State Duma discussed the draft regulations by Moscow government concerning introduction of self regulation elements into Moscow construction industry. Director of ASR Legal Support Department Alexander Samoilov commented on the event:
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The experiment is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the urban engineering industry. The regulations on conducting the experiment stipulate introducing some self regulation elements into the construction industry in order to exclude the non-functional ones. Participation in the experiment is voluntary. The company, which is willing to approve the self regulation mechanism should prove its reliability, possess an integrated insurance system and a compensation fund.
Head of ASRScience and Staff Development Department Vladimir Shvets also became one of the leading newsmakers of December. Mass media paid great attention to his comments on the HR challenges in the construction industry:
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Prosperous companies do not have problems with personnel. Other employers of the construction industry wish and are ready to solve the HR challenges. As for the issue of migrant workers nowadays our attitude towards them is quite liberal. On the other hand, we still have to make efforts to educate migrant workers and improve their living conditions in Moscow. As for me, I do not see any problems we would be unable to solve. We have enough educational institutions. And we plan to found a so called “City of craftsmen”
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Nowadays illegal migrant workers work in every sphere, including the construction industry. Nobody counted them. And, frankly speaking, they are hardly ever to be counted. For this is a completely closed subject, as well as the issues related to activities of middlemen and recruiters. They exist and get their commission for placing people. But this sort of information usually remains classified. It is not discussed in public. As for increasing penalties for employing illegal migrant workers – these measures are not going to influence the business of prosperous companies.
Source: PR and Information Analysis Department of ASR.