Nadezhda Krasilova
Russia has 12 billion roubles ready for South Ossetia
Yesterday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hosted a video conference between the officers of the emergency operations centre in charge of dealing with the consequences of the armed conflict in South Ossetia. At the emergency centre of the Ministry for Emergency Situations, Mr Putin listened to the progress reports by the ministers and had a video conference with people in Tskhinvali and Vladikavkaz. The Prime Minister made a statement that, given the status of South Ossetia as an independent and sovereign state, funding will flow from the Russian state treasury straight to the republic. Eduard Kokoity, the President of South Ossetia, has promised that any utility, medical and transport services will be provided in the republic free of charge through January 1, 2009.
Yesterday, Vladimir Putin, accompanied by several ministers, visited the emergency centre of the Ministry for Emergency Situations as part of the effort to monitor dealing with the consequences of the armed conflict in South Ossetia. First of all, the Prime Minister said that, on the whole, the situation in the region has been stabilised and that almost all of the refugees have come back to the republic. Mr Putin urged the ministers to pay particular attention to meeting the deadlines set for the reconstruction. Any repairs, particularly those of housing, social facilities and utilities, are to be completed in the months to come.
"South Ossetia has survived aggression and years of blockade imposed by Georgia; therefore, its economy and social sphere need a long-term recovery programme," said the Prime Minister.
Later, the ministers delivered their reports. According to their presentations, people from some Russian regions had reason to envy the people based in South Ossetia. First, Sergei Shoigu, Minister for Emergency Situations, spoke about the restoration of all life sustenance systems and the start-up of restoration work. Further, Rashid Nurgaliev, Minister of the Interior, spoke about the safety of refugees. Tatyana Golikova, Minister of Healthcare and Social Development, said that retirement and social security benefits were provided in the republic without any interruptions. In addition, Mr Putin drove the attention of the listeners to the new status of South Ossetia, and that "now we must treat it as an independent sovereign state; Russia needs to establish hi-tech relations with this republic according to the requirements of international law. Ms Golikova promised to draft a bilateral agreement to ensure provision of social services to the citizens of the Russian Federation.
Taimuraz Mamsurov, head of North Ossetia, was the first person to appear on the video-conference screen. He informed the audience that not a single temporary accommodation centre for refugees was left in the region, although about 2,000 refugees were still sharing homes with their relatives.
Then Mr Putin requested a connection with Tskhinvali. Eduard Kokoity appeared on the screen to confirm that the funding had arrived right on time; however, he believed that tight control over the expenditures was needed.
"We have a large number of projects, and we are going to monitor the quality and performance of all the work," said the leader of the independent republic.
In addition, Mr Kokoity also asked for social security funding to be transferred directly to South Ossetia.
Yesterday, Mr Putin also mentioned that a substantial number of South Ossetians were citizens of the Russian Federation. He said that all the work was to be free of any interruptions and all funding was to arrive on time. He agreed with the President of South Ossetia that strict control over any expenditure was needed.
According to Anton Siluanov, Deputy Minister of Finance, relevant amendments would be made during the second reading of the 2009-2011 Federal Budget Law, at the State Duma. Presently, the amount allocated for the above purposes within the budget is equal to 12.8 billion roubles. Russian financial aid has already brought in some positive results. Yesterday it was announced that Eduard Kokoity had promised to provide utility, medical and transport services in the republic for free through the end of 2008.