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Putin, govt members to discuss Plan for Far East Development Ministry's activities

MOSCOW, March 26, 3:18 /ITAR-TASS/. Russia's President Vladimir Putin will discuss the 2013-2018 Plan for the activities of MinVostokRazvitiye (Ministry for the Development of the Far East) and fine tuning of the State Progrsmme "The Socio-Economic Development of the Far East and Baikal Region" with government members on Wednesday, the Kremlin press service reported.

"Those present at the meeting will also review the elimination of the aftermath of (last year's) large-scale floods hitting the areas of the Republic of Yakutia (Sakha), Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, Amur and Magadan Regions, and the Jewish Autonomous Region," the Kremlin press service points out.

Yuri Trutnev, Vice-Premier and plenipotentiary presidential representative in the Far Eastern Federal District, will make a report on the subject. Upon being appointed to the position last year, Trutnev set himself a task of forming main development institutions in the District as soon as possible organizations which would engage in attracting investors, in developing the territories and fostering human capital.

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Far East economy should grow 7% per year in five years

The President's meeting with the government will carry on a series of conferences dealing with the accomplishment of the tasks set by Putin in the message to the Federal Assembly (parliament) in furtherance of the May Decrees of 2012.

The Plan for the activities of MinVostokRazvitiye pursues two main goals: to attach population to the Far East and Baikal Region and form favourable conditions for entrepreneurial activities in the region. In accordance with these orientations, the Far East's population is expected to grow up to 11.3 million by 2018.

It is also planned to increase life expectancy of Far Easte inhabitants up to 69 years. Wages in the region by the year 2018 must be higher than the country's average by almost 23%. The main areas of activity include implementing large-scale investment projects connected with the mining and processing of natural resources, and developing hi-tech centers of aircraft construction, shipbuilding, ship-repairing, and the automobile industry.

Floods in the Far East began to affect the area at the end of July 2013 owing to torrential rains, with the territories of five regions being inundated. Hundreds of settlements were floded; 55,000 people were stranded in the calamity area and damage to agriculture was estimated at over 10 billion roubles.

On August 30, President Vladimir Putin arrinve in the region. He surveyed the floded area from board helicopter and heard reports from the heads of the stricken regions. On the next day, Viktor Ishayev, the then plenipotentiary presidential representative in the Far East Federal District, was dismissed from all posts.

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