Putin outlines new strategy for North Caucasus
KISLOVODSK/RUSSIA - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin outlined on Tuesday a new strategy for the North Caucasus intended to boost its economic development and stem the cause for rising violence in the region, RIA Novosti reported.
Economy
Putin said that the regional economy must achieve a growth rate of
about 10% per year. Putin made the statement at a plenary session
during the interregional conference held by the ruling Untied
Russia party on the strategy of the North Caucasus social and
economic development by 2020 and the program for 2010-2012.
"Today the region lags considerably behind in terms of basic social
and economic indicators. We need to reduce and in the future
overcome this gap," Putin said.
The North Caucasus should be included in the system of
interregional and international economic ties and large strategic
projects, the prime minister said.
Namely, Putin said, the North Caucasus could become a part of the
international North-South transit transport corridor.
"We see a real perspective of building the North Caucasus into a
North-South international transit corridor that would link Russia
and Europe with the Persian Gulf and Central Asian states," he
said.
He added that Makhachkala, the capital of the republic of Dagestan,
could become a major Russian merchant port on the Caspian Sea.
Russia is ready to support the Cherkessk-Sukhumi highway
construction project to link the North Caucasus region with the
former Georgian republic of Abkhazia. The republic was recognized
by Russia as independent in 2008, after a brief war with Georgia
over South Ossetia.
"We are prepared to use the advantages of cooperation in the sphere
of transport and promote jointly with our Abkhazian partners the
project of building the Cherkessk-Sukhumi highway," Putin said.
The prime minister said a promising area was the establishment of
building materials enterprises in the North Caucasus.
"We need to build a lot in the North Caucasus, both housing and
social facilities, and such large-scale tasks will require a boost
to the building materials industry and related sectors," Putin
said.
The prime minister said the oil refinery, to be built in the
republic of Chechnya by the Russian state-controlled oil company
Rosneft, would be open in 2014. The project, worth 17 million
rubles (about $550,000), will make the republic a leading center of
Russia's oil and petrochemical industry.
Government support & investment
Putin called on regional authorities to use all possibilities to
attract investments to the region. Each investor should be hosted
by the North Caucasus republics' governments as "a family member,"
he said.
The country's government has spent a total of 800 billion rubles
($25.7 billion) for the development of the North Caucasus over the
past 10 years, with donations rising 12 times compared with 2000.
However, this was apparently insufficient, the premier said.
"Despite a respectively good economic growth and budget provision
rates, we have failed to dramatically change the nature of the
regional economy. State investments and direct federal support
alone are insufficient here, no matter how large they are," Putin
said.
He said it was difficult, sometimes impossible to launch a new
business in the region and called on the republics' authorities to
improve the situation.
Putin said that government guarantees for loans to finance projects
in the North Caucasus would amount to 70%.
"This substantial level of guarantees, as I expect, will help
reduce risks and, therefore, the cost of borrowing," he said.
Unemployment
The Russian premier said unemployment was the region's "most sharp
social and psychological problem." He said the country's
authorities must create at least 400,000 new jobs in the North
Caucasus over the next 10 years.
The problem of unemployment is seen as a major reason for local
residents to join militant groups.
Presently, Putin said, every fifth regional resident cannot find a
job. In the republics of Ingushetia and Chechnya, the situation is
even worse, with every second and almost every third employable
resident remaining unemployed, he said.
Tourism
Putin said the Russian government intended to further support the
development of tourism in the region. He said it was necessary to
create a high-tech resort industry of a national scale in the North
Caucasus.
"Almost each of the North Caucasus regions has something to propose
in such a prospective sphere as tourism," he said.
The first project to be implemented in the region is the creation
of an alpine ski zone between the Caspian and the Black seas, which
would eventually be able to host up to 100,000 tourists.
The development of tourism will help create an additional 160,000
jobs in the region, Putin said.
Public dialogue
Putin called for closer cooperation between the people and the
authorities in the region.
"We need a permanent, substantial dialogue with public and rights
organizations," he said.
"Residents should have a real opportunity to send signals to the
authorities. Only then will they believe that the state understands
their needs and is able to find ways to solve the existing
problem," he said.
The premier said the improvement of local residents' attitude to
the authorities was a major task for the United Russia party.
Improving regional image
Putin said it was necessary to change the public atmosphere both in
the North Caucasus itself and around it.
"It is necessary to overcome phobias and stereotypes, dramatically
improve the region's image in Russia and in the world," he
said.
The prime minister said extremists and gangs in the North Caucasus
are often doing their job under the guise of political slogans.
"But their time is running out," Putin said.
"We should use all forces to protect the lives, rights and security
of our citizens. We will never allow the invasion into our internal
affairs, or any attempts against our territorial integrity and
Russia's sovereignty," he said said.
Youth policy
Putin said the Russian government will allocate 10 million rubles
($320,000) for the best regional youth projects in 2010, with the
figure rising to 100 million rubles ($3.21 million) next year.
The premier also said Russia's leading universities would take on
some 1,300 students from the North Caucasus a year.
Medical care
Putin said a major task for the regional authorities was to improve
the medical care system in the North Caucasus. He said the
republics were able to attract investments of up to 15 billion
rubles ($482 million) for this goal.
The premier brought up the example of the republic of Chechnya,
where 35 hospitals, as well as 53 schools, were built over the past
two years using federal funds.