KALUGA, March 03. /ITAR-TASS/. Central Russia’s Kaluga region has started preparations for hosting possible refugees from Ukraine, Ruslan Smolensky, the region’s deputy governor, told Itar-Tass on Monday.

He said a single settlement account had been set up on the regional government’s orders to raise funds for the people of Ukraine.

“Residents of the Kaluga region do not stand aside,” Smolensky said. “We actively helped flood victims in Russia’s Far East last autumn to have raised more than 14 billion rubles then.”

“We have decided to raise funds for Ukrainian citizens now,” he said. “The account details will be distributed among employees of all organizations and enterprises.”

Smolensky added “there are a growing number of inquiries from residents of the Kaluga region about possibilities for welcoming Ukrainians to the region”. The Kaluga region’s Ministry for Family Affairs, Demographics and Social Policy and the Federal Migration Service has intensified work to advise residents of the Kaluga region and all the people of Ukraine coming in.

“It has been ordered to render assistance to the people of Ukraine as a matter of priority,” Mikhail Moskalenko, the head of the Kaluga region’s Federal Migration Service, said. “The citizens of that state will be the first to receive employment quotas.”

A special task group has been created under the regional government to address the issues connected with housing expected forced migrants from Ukraine.

“We will provide help to everyone coming here,” Anatoly Artamonov, the region’s governor, said, adding that there was an ongoing program for the resettlement of compatriots residing abroad. “People will be given a home and a job here. There are enough jobs for everyone. If there are too many applicants, we will take a special decision at the level of the government or adopt special legislation on the conditions of Ukrainian’s stay, further residence and registration in the Kaluga region.