Medvedev: 11 Russian time zones too many

MOSCOW, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says his country has way too many time zones.

From Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave wedged between Poland and Lithuania on the west, to Vladivostok on the Pacific, the Russian federation now spans 11 time zones. By the time Kalinigrad residents wake in the morning, their compatriots in Vladivostok might be eating dinner.

In his state of the union speech Thursday, Medvedev suggested cutting the number of zones might help the economy, the BBC reported. He cited the United States, which has six time zones, including Hawaii, and China, which keeps the entire country on Beijing time.

The current system of time zones in Russia, the country with the largest area, dates to 1919.

The president acknowledged Russians are proud of the number of zones as a "vivid illustration of the greatness of our motherland." But he said fewer time zones would be more efficient for government and business.

Gennady Lazarev, head of Vladivostok Economics University, told the Novosti news agency that one possibility would be four time zones: Kalinigrad, Moscow, the Urals and Siberia, and the Far East.