MOSCOW, September 6 (Itar-Tass) —— The new territories of Moscow will legally become part of the capital no later than the second half of next year, the deputy mayor for economic policies, Andrei Sharonov, told the media on Tuesday.
"The boundaries will certainly be agreed with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. During the first and second quarters (of 2012) Moscow and the Moscow region will make changes to the budget and inventory properties," he said.
Sharonov said that legally no later than the second half of 2012 these areas would become part of Moscow.
The authorities of the capital and of the Moscow Region have reached an agreement on doubling the territory of Moscow at the expense of the region’s lands. As the first deputy mayor, Vladimir Resin, said earlier, the development of new areas should not be rushed.
"The new area should be built up proceeding from its location. There should be low housing and sparsely-built residential areas and everything that nature has given us should be preserved for comfortable life," he said. Resin believes that "Moscow’s urban congestion will ease at least by 50 percent, because the territory that will be taken over currently houses only about 250 thousand."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on forming a working group to develop proposals related to changes in the location of state bodies, creation and development of infrastructures of the international financial center in the areas proposed for inclusion in Moscow.