Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Murat Zyazikov, President of the Republic of Ingushetia
Transcript of the beginning of Vladimir Putin's conversation with Murat Zyazikov:
Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon. How are you?
Murat Zyazikov: All right, on the whole.
Vladimir Putin: You are currently adopting the development plans, aren't you?
Murat Zyazikov: Yes, we have already begun this work. Everything is going according to plan so far, no problems in that direction. We have made provisions for the legal base, and we have prepared the financial base. The work is going normally so far.
The Republic of Ingushetia's rate of socio-economic development characterises, on the whole, quality of life. And, on the whole, we can say that the main outcome of the socio-economic development of the Republic is positive.
I would like to express special thanks to you, Mr Putin. Thanks to your instructions we have been able to solve some problems of social importance. First of all, I would like to say that the work is going on successfully in the landslide area. This is the Malgobek District, where 500 new houses will be built this year, including four blocks of flats comprising 150 apartments. All in all, we shall be able to solve this problem - the problem of the 1950s. As a result, by 2010 we shall provide new housing for over 14, 000 people. In terms of families, this amounts to 2293 families.
Of course, we are trying to take into account the growing birth rate. The problem of birth rate for us is a matter of national security. It is not only an issue of how many children were born in so and so region. We understand this fairly well. We are doing a great amount of work in this direction.
Vladimir Putin: You mean work in the direction of raising the birth rate?
Murat Zyazikov: Yes, including work in line with national projects...
Vladimir Putin: You have done well. Tell me, please, how are your relations with the Ministry of Finance develop? Do you receive funds in time?
Murat Zyazikov: Lately we have been building up very constructive relations. They understand the importance of the work in process and the issues that must be solved as priorities. Say, today it is not enough to move people away from the landslide area - along with housing, we have to provide them with kindergartens, pre-school, school and university education. Of course, there are many social issues connected with provision of infrastructure. These questions arise every day.
Vladimir Putin: You remember, we have already said: it is very good that social issues are being solved. Of course, these are our priorities. Concerning jobs and the creation of new production facilities, we have discussed it many times. I mean that federal funds must be assigned for the purpose.
Murat Zyazikov: Yes, Mr Putin. This is a very acute problem for us. We have built many facilities with our own domestic resources. The best results, to my mind, are the rates of settlements' provision with gas. We have not a single settlement that is not provided with gas. We have done this with our domestic resources.
Now we have got the Federal Targeted Programme for Ingushetia which focuses on the creation of new jobs. This is a very topical problem for us.
In this connection the issue of birth rates comes in again. We can't always manage it in parallel. Probably one can say that all problems can be solved at a stroke - the problem of the birth rate and the problem of creating new jobs. Even during the Soviet times there were difficulties in this respect.
The development of small and medium-sized business, of course, is a matter of great importance here. We have created favourable conditions for transparent business, we have created a regulatory-legal base for it, and the number of small and medium-sized companies has increased more than 8-fold. Accordingly, products are being manufactured, quality is improving, and people are employed in this production.
Vladimir Putin: Mr Zyazikov, you also want to set up a recreational area somewhere, don't you? Where, in the mountains?
Murat Zyazikov: Yes, we do, in the Dzheirah District. In Soviet times tourist routes used to go across there. This area borders on Georgia. By the way, we have completed the construction of the necessary facilities at the state border. Though it may not be modest, I would like to stress that we were the first in the country in this respect. And right there we have built children's summer camps similar to those we used to call young pioneer camps.
Quite recently we together with the President's Authorised Representative visited these camps - holiday hotels, in fact. There are very good conditions there. Certainly, we have to build all infrastructure facilities there. We have already discussed this matter at the Olympic Committee: our plans provide for tourists to come there in large numbers for vacation, and the money they spend can be used for further development. Work is being done in this direction.
