Putin: state support of Northern Caucasus will continue

Residents of the republics of Northern Caucasus should have chances for self-realization in their residences, without migration to federal metropolises. For this purpose, donations to the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) will continue, but in reasonable amounts, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said today during his direct TV conversation with Russian people.

"In big cities, we have more and more natives from the Caucasus... They not always into the cultural environment where they get... They are not prepared. They are just looking for better life here... The way out is in development of productive forces in the Caucasus: economy and social sphere, so that people did not want to leave," Mr Putin said.

"And for that, yes, we need to invest money there; however, that does not mean that we'll unthinkingly tumble down money there, to steal and plunder it," the ITAR-TASS quotes the Prime Minister as saying.

The "Gazeta.Ru" adds that Vladimir Putin cited the Chechen Republic as an example of a region with "the minimum corruption component."

"Quite recently, people compared Grozny with Stalingrad after the war. Well, did we have to leave Grozny in that condition, or what? I know that Kadyrov (the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, - note of the "Caucasian Knot") faces a lot of claims, but he restores Chechnya; and he has restored Grozny, as no one had managed to do before," Putin said.