MOSCOW, June 20 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited Grozny on Tuesday. He held a meeting devoted to socio-economic development of the North Caucasus in the city. He declared the North Caucasus as one of his top priorities. The premier demands finalize by December 1 a state program for development of the North Caucasus Federal District through 2025.
The top priority for the government still remains the task to make the life in the North Caucasus Federal District attractive, safe and stable, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily reported. But this task consists of many micro-tasks, the newspaper noted. One of these micro-tasks is the solution to the unemployment problem, which is a weak point in the region. Dmitry Medvedev set as another guideline a higher housing construction volume in the district. The number of people provided with housing should rise by a third. Another important step is to provide the resorts in the North Caucasus Region with a complex system to develop infrastructure and security.
Although the state authorities are taking active measures, the state program for the development of the North Caucasus Federal District through 2025 continues to be unelaborated, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily noted. Now three major federal targeted program for the development of southern Russia, Chechnya and Ingushetia are used for socio-economic development in the district. Over 130 billion roubles, including 120 billion roubles from the federal budget, were allocated for these programs for the last four years alone.
The North Caucasus development program should also bring down the unemployment rate in the region from current 16% to the average Russian level of five percent, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily noted. Medvedev noted that for this purpose the North Caucasus should become attractive in terms of investments, the conditions for the development of business are needed not only for big business, which will be promoted itself, but also for small businesses. Much is to be done for the state authorities for infrastructure development. The plans are truly sweeping. The investments should reach 1.7 trillion roubles through 2025. Meanwhile, the authors of the program believe that private investors should allocate over a trillion roubles. The investments will be spent for launching new industrial and agricultural enterprises. The tourism cluster, which is planned to develop in Caucasian Mineralnye Vody, Karachai-Cherkessia and the foothills of the Elbrus Mount, should be able to receive ten million holidaymakers every year. New cottage hotels, new roads and chairlifts are needed for this purpose.
The Moskovsky Komsomolets daily recalled that over 130 billion roubles, including 120 billion roubles from the federal budget, were allocated under the federal targeted programs for the last four years. According to official reports, the allocations were spent efficiently. Some 120 schools, over 100 hospitals and outpatient clinics, 50 sport and culture facilities, over 800,000 square meters of housing were built, over 270 kilometres of highways were laid, the infrastructure of the housing and public utilities sector was improved.