SIMFEROPOL, March 16. /TASS/. Russia gave to Crimea more in the seven years after the reunification with the peninsula than what was done in the 25 years when it was part of Ukraine, while the region’s development continues, head of Crimea Sergei Aksenov told reporters Tuesday.

"We have many more opportunities from the financial point of view than we have qualified working hands from the construction point of view <…> we lack qualified workers, this is the work front. At the same time, the amount of work done in the seven years is more than what happened in 25 years in Ukraine. Thank God, we are moving forward, it is difficult and tense, not everything turns out as we wanted, but it is still moving forward, it is confidence in tomorrow. Something that we did not have before 2014," Aksenov stressed.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014 following a coup in Ukraine. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification treaties on March 18, 2014. The documents were ratified by Russia’s Federal Assembly, or bicameral parliament, on March 21. Despite the convincing results of the referendum, Ukraine continues to refuse to recognize Crimea as a part of Russia.