Governors of the North Caucasus Federal District will have to dismiss officials on Alexander Khloponin's first request.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held a meeting with his new deputy, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD) Alexander Khloponin, and the district's regional governors in Pyatigorsk on Saturday. The Prime Minister outlined five main development avenues for the District and charged the envoy and federal agencies concerned with elaborating a comprehensive strategy for the District's development. He also obliged the regional governors to dismiss officials whose work dissatisfied the presidential envoy.
The strategy will help identify the tasks for every region of the new federal district. The second challenge Vladimir Putin mentioned was to improve the investment climate by setting up special economic zones and regional industrial parks in every District's entity. The Prime Minister urged federal agencies and monopolies to formulate "special investment programmes for the development of the infrastructure in the North Caucasus and its constituent regions."
Another task laid down in the strategy is improvement of cities, towns and other settlements in the North Caucasus. Pyatigorsk located in the Stavropol Territory, which was declared the capital of the newly established federal district, is first in line for improvement. "The Presidential Envoy has already promised that he will deal with this issue. That means that Pyatigorsk will receive funds both from the government and private investors. I believe that the city is very attractive for investors," Stavropol Territory's Governor, Valery Gayevsky, told Gazeta. He added that he expected a surge of competition for investors' attention among the regions of the North Caucasus Federal District. "This will be to universal benefit since the situation will start improving in all spheres of life," he said and added that when the new Federal District was formed, the Stavropol Territory became entitled to additional financing under the South Russia federal targeted programme that was originally meant for Russia's South Caucasus republics.
The concluding task that the Prime Minister set was "to put things right in the work of the government and the authorities of all levels." He added that the process should start with the local branches of federal departments.
The Prime Minister urged the governors to take staff decisions on Alexander Khloponin's first request.
The governors in their turn hope that the Presidential Envoy will use this power only when absolutely necessary. "I had a conversation with Alexander Khloponin and understood that we were lucky. He is a reliable partner, and I think he will lobby the region's interests in the federal government. Besides, he has experience working as a governor and knows what it is like, so I'm sure that he won't give us any orders detached from reality," Valery Gayevsky told Gazeta. The governor believes that Alexander Khloponin, who has exceptional powers for which the State Duma even passed amendments to the law enabling deputy prime ministers and ministers to simultaneously serve as presidential envoys, will not infringe on the governors' authorities.
The Presidential Envoy himself said in an interview to a federal television channel that he first intended to get acquainted with the District. "I want to be very serious in my approach and deal not only with the economics, but combine the tradition, culture, and economy [of the regions]," Alexander Khloponin said. He stressed that the huge labour resources in the North Caucasus were a very important asset. In his words, problems in the District could be the result of wrong managerial decisions or a complicated geopolitical situation. "Just give me some time to come to know the particulars. I will travel across the District, see how things are, get first-hand information and make some conclusions," he said.
It is worth mentioning that the meeting also inspired hope among human rights activists that the situation in the North Caucasus could improve since the Prime Minister charged local authorities with creating the conditions for human rights organisations' safe and efficient work in the District.
"Time will show if Vladimir Putin's statement will change anything, but the fact that economic problems will be prioritized inspires hope for the better. We believe that Alexander Khloponin, as an efficient manager, will accomplish the Prime Minister's task," Lyudmila Alekseyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, told Gazeta.
Lilia Biryukova