KHABAROVSK, August 30 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Vladivostok, where he will have a broad agenda of his working trip.
The President will begin his 3-day working trip in the capital of Primorsky Territory from a meeting devoted to the prospects of development of civilian shipbuilding in the Far East. In particular, Putin will discuss the creation of a new shipbuilding plant that will be engaged in construction of ships for production industries in the city of Bolshoi Kamen on the premises of the shipyard Zvezda.
It was decided to set up ‘a super shipyard’ several years ago. According to the initial project, a first tanker was to be set afloat already by the end of this year, but now a lag behind the construction schedule makes already 14 months. As a result Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin had to put this issue under personal control and put it under ‘manual management’. The meeting chaired by Rogozin in Bolshoi Kamen on August 19 decided to accept the proposal of Rosneft and Gazprombank to set up a consortium to build the shipyard Zvezda. The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the United Shipbuilding Corporation agreed with this proposal and eventually “a final shape of how all this will be organized will be found,” Rogozin said.
Rogozin reported to the President about this option. Now the President should take a final decision to attract a big investor or their consortium to speed up sharply the construction of the shipyard.
On Saturday, August 31, Vladimir Putin will hold a next meeting devoted to the cleanup of the aftermath of the floods in Vladivostok. Earlier this week, since Wednesday, the president visited the flood-hit districts in Amur Region, Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region and held several meetings and conferences, including a big meeting in Khabarovsk on August 29 involving the regional authorities and about half of ministers from the federal government. At the meeting the President particularly gave an instruction to members of the Russian Cabinet to continue their trips to the flood-stricken constituent territories and prepare specific reports for a meeting in Vladivostok.
Over the last three weeks the regions in the Far Eastern Federal District live in the emergency situation over the heaviest rain. Amur Region was the first and hardest hit of the flood. Over 12,600 people were evacuated from the dangerous zone. The number of people affected in the flood already exceeded 50,000 people. The damage from the flood is estimated at billions of rubles.
After the debates over the floods on Saturday Putin will hold a meeting devoted to the socio-economic development of Primorsky Territory. In the evening on the same day the President will visit the Primorsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet, the construction of which is at its final stage and it is planned to commission it in September 2013.
On Sunday, September 1, the president will visit the Far Eastern Federal University on the Russky Island. New campuses of the university received participants in the APEC summit last September. The President is expected to meet with teachers, postgraduate students and students of the university, visit the medical centre of the Far Eastern Federal University and will visit a Primorsky oceanarium under construction on the island.
Meanwhile, Putin will visit the all-Russia children’s centre Ocean, at which more than 1,000 children from the flood-stricken districts in the Far East are accommodated.
In general, the current working trip of the President to eastern Russia continues since Monday. The working trip began in Kemerovo Region, where Putin held a meeting of the committee over development of the fuel and energy complex and energy security and met with the miners, members of the families of miners, who died in the gas explosion at the coalmine Raspadskaya in 2010. Then the president went to Khakassia, Southern Siberia, where he held a meeting over development of the electric power industry in Siberia and the Far East at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station. Meanwhile, presidential plenipotentiary representative in the Siberian Federal District Viktor Tolokonsky briefed the President about the current situation in the federal district. After that the President dealt with the problems already in the Far East, primarily related with the flood situation.
Despite the information coming to him constantly about all major incidents in the country, Putin frequently goes to the site of natural disasters to make sure that all necessary measures are taken to save people and minimize the damage.