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Putin to visit flood-hit Irkutsk region on Friday

Putin will hold a government meeting on measures to eliminate the aftermaths of the flooding

© Kirill Shipitsin/TASS

MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will visit Russia’s Siberian Irkutsk region that was affected by a devastating flooding to see what is being done to do away with its aftermaths, the Kremlin press service said on Thursday.

"On July 19, the Russian head of state will visit the Irkutsk region, where he will hold a government meeting on measures to eliminate the aftermaths of the flooding," the Kremlin said.

FLOODS IN IRKUTSK REGION

The Russian president is expected to visit flood-affected areas and accommodation centers for people who lost their homes in the flooding.

The president has already visited the Irkutsk region to see the situation with his own eyes. Overnight to June 30, he held a government meeting in Bratsk, Irkutsk region on the situation in the flooded areas and later signed a decree on measures to do away with the consequences of the flooding.

The unprecedented flooding in the Irkutsk region in late June was caused by torrential rains and snow melting in the Sayan Mountains. About 11,000 dwelling houses and about the same number of household plots, 49 social infrastructure facilities and 49 sections of motorways in 107 settlements were flooded. Twenty-two motorway bridges were damaged. According to the latest update, the flooding claimed 25 lives and eight are reported missing. A state of emergency is still in force in the region.

At a government meeting earlier on Thursday, it was decided to allocate more than 14 billion rubles ($222.25 mln) to the Irkutsk region to provide housing to those who lost their homes in the flooding. In late June, a sum of 662 million rubles ($10.506 mln) was allocated to the Irkutsk region to pay relief allowances to those affected by the flooding. On July 11, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said 2.3 billion rubles ($36.512 mln) more would allocated to the region.

"On the same day, Vladimir Putin will make a working trip to Magnitogorsk to visit factory No 5, a new production facility of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Works," the Kremlin press service added.

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