SIMFEROPOL, March 4. /TASS/. All strategic problems that the Crimean Peninsula faced when it joined Russia in 2014 have thus far been resolved, Head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov told TASS in an interview.
"At the will of President [Vladimir Putin], all strategic issues have been resolved. Electricity, water, gas and all resources are now available <…> and no bombing, blockade or bad weather will hamper anything. True, there used to be fuel shortages, but all issues have finally been resolved. Everything is functioning now," the official said.
In the past decade, the president himself has been monitoring the implementation of what Aksyonov said were colossal Russian projects to build or develop infrastructure on the peninsula, citing the Crimean Bridge, the Tavrida Highway and hundreds of other measures.
However, Aksyonov said, the Crimean regional government is still working on addressing a number of less critical issues, including prices for food and medicine, or efforts to improve infrastructure. "These are minor issues for the republic overall that [do, however,] matter a great deal for specific people, residents of specific streets," he explained.
After the Maidan coup in Ukraine in February 2014, the governments of Crimea and Sevastopol held a referendum on the peninsula’s reunification with Russia. The overwhelming majority of voters supported reunification (96.7% in the Republic of Crimea and 95.6% in the City of Sevastopol), with turnout reaching 80%. On March 18, 2014, Putin signed a treaty for the formal accession of the Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol to Russia as constituent regions, and three days later the document was ratified by the Federal Assembly, the Russian parliament. Despite the convincing results of the referendum, Kiev has refused to recognize Crimea as a part of Russia.