VLADIVOSTOK, September 11. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will present his assessment of the progress the country’s Far Eastern regions have made in the past year and the past decade at a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on Tuesday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with RBC television.

When asked about exactly what the president will speak about at a plenary session of the EEF currently underway in Vladivostok, Peskov said: "He will give his assessment and analysis of how far the Far East has progressed in its development in the past year and the past decade."

Commenting on why Putin will cover the past 10 years in his speech, Peskov explained that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev was appointed Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District exactly a decade ago and it was then that Putin "declared Far East’s development to be a [Russian] priority goal." "I think that in his address, the president will speak about achievements that have been made over the period and problems that remain," the Russian presidential spokesman specified.

Also, Peskov described the Far East as an essential region. "Now that <…> we have lost lots of markets in Europe and as we are looking for new markets and new investments eastwards, the region is becoming increasingly important and its efficiency has increased, too," he concluded.