The Far East to follow Yakutia

MOSCOW – The Russian prime minister Michael Fradkov, summarizing the discussion of socio-economic development of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) at a cabinet meeting, thanked everyone, who took part in development of The Scheme of Complex Development and Accommodation of Productive Forces, Transport & Energy in Yakutia up to 2020.

The Russian prime minister has told that the subject of productive forces complex accommodation is urgent, and the scheme is prepared qualitatively enough. Michael Fradkov noted: “The detailed and active discussion of the document at a cabinet meeting testifies that we can find the decisions on hardest, but urgent questions of development of our economy.”

“Yakutia occupies the fifth part of all Russian territory and has not only diamonds. It has the large power, almost all set of minerals, and enormous opportunities to make transportation more geopolitical and geostrategic important, and also to unit resources of the Far East and East Siberia. Having put such tasks, President and Government expect to realize all available potential, including intellectual, so that with the scheme of productive forces accommodation it was possible to find the answer on more serious question – No1 in national economy development – how to make all territory effectively working and internationally competitive,” said the chairman of the Russian government.

He has offered to scrutinize the scheme thoroughly in order to direct the Far East development governmental committee lead by the prime minister in its work on development of the Far East and Transbaikalia.

With half-hourly report, Yakutia's President received a positive response of the Council of Ministers. The offered long-term region development strategy was supported by the following ministers: Aleksey Kudrin (of finance), Vladimir Yakovlev (of regional development), Yuri Trutnev (of natural resources), Aleksey Gordeev (of agriculture), Sergey Shoygu (for emergency situations), Victor Hristenko (of industry and power), Alexander Sokolov (of culture and mass communications), Igor Levitin (of transport), and Andrey Fursenko (of education and science).

At the meeting, federal ministers recalled almost all aspects of the republic life, even heroic national epos Olonkho and Andrey Borisov's By the Will of Genghis Khan movie that is in production.

Among other offers it is worth to mention that the federal government is ready to resolve such topical issues as housing resources, the close of unpromising settlements in northern territories, the whole transport infrastructure development in Yakutia, licensing of natural resources mining, establishment of cooperation between government and private business. At the cabinet meeting, Yakutian agriculture management was marked as unique in the Far North. The strong system of secondary education was praised as well.

The discussion resulted in approval of the Scheme of Development and Accommodation of Productive Forces of Republic Sakha (Yakutia) for the period till 2020. Besides, the government decided to take the scheme as a basis of development strategy for the Far East federal district.

// Feb 9, 2007.

Reported by Yakutia-Sakha News Agency
Translated by Ustin Chemerzansky, a YSU student.