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Putin to attend All-Russian People’s Front forum in Yalta

More than 350 people are to take part in the ONF forum in Crimea

MOSCOW, October 26 /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate in a regional Russian Popular Front (ONF) Action Forum in the Crimean city of Yalta on Wednesday.

"The Russian head of state will make a speech at the plenary meeting and answer questions to be posed by the forum’s delegates," the Kremlin press service said.

Putin’s previous visit to Crimea took place in mid-September this year when he attended a meeting of the presidium of the State Council, which discussed the development of the transport system in southern Russia. Prior to that, the president had visited the peninsula in August to attend, among other things, the Tavrida forum.

"The Action Forum. Crimea" is a third regional event organized by the Russian Popular Front (ONF) this year. Vladimir Putin also took part in the two previous forums held in Stavropol, a city in southern Russia, in January and in Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of the Mari El Republic, in April. The Kremlin press service said that the two-day forum, which kicked off in Yalta on October 25, will have several topics on the agenda: energy and gas supplies; the development of agro-industrial complex and other promising sectors of economy, including Crimea’s tourist potential, environment, the conservation of objects of cultural heritage; the quality of housing and utility services and access to education.

On the forum’s first day, discussions took place on three thematic floors: "Education and culture as the basis of national identity" and "The Quality of Everyday Life" and "Honest and Effective Economy." The delegates focused on most urgent problems, which the activists of the forum’s regional branches in Crimea and Sevastopol revealed after processing people’s appeals, conducting opinion polls, holding expert meetings, etc. Apart from the plenary meeting, which will continue on the forum’s second day on Wednesday, several trainings will be held under the projects "For Honest Purchases," "For Rights of Borrowers" and "People’s Expertise" which are carried out by the Russian Popular Front and the Public Monitoring Center for Problems of Environment and Forest Protection. More than 350 people are to take part in the ONF forum in Crimea.

The Russian Popular Front was created in May 2011 as a broad coalition of the country’s socio-political forces. It was transformed into a public movement in June 2013. Today, the ONF has regional branches in all Russian regions, including Crimea and Sevastopol. The front’s main tasks is to exercise control over the implementation of Putin’s May decree and presidential instructions and fight against corruption; wastefulness and ineffective spending of state funds. Putin has taken part in various ONF forums and conferences many times.

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