Political analysts associate Medvedev's visit to Chechnya with subsidies

The Russian Premier, Dmitry Medvedev, has visited Chechnya not to discuss the upcoming presidential election, but to bargain with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who demands an increase in federal subsidies, the political analysts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", believe.

Mr Medvedev's visit to Chechnya took place on February 26.

According to Dmitry Oreshkin, a political analyst, the main goal of Medvedev's visit to Chechnya was to solve the problem related to the federal financing of the republic.

"The point is that Kadyrov demands to increase his republic's funding from the federal budget; he sees that Dagestan received more money than in 2017, but Chechnya didn't. And he, probably, raised the issue before Medvedev, in a tough form, and demanded more money from the federal centre. But the centre has no money; therefore, Medvedev tried to settle this issue," Mr Oreshkin said.

Dmitry Medvedev came to Chechnya to bargain, he explained. "Kadyrov's position is like that: give more money, otherwise I can't guarantee the loyalty of this territory; while Medvedev's task is to buy Kadyrov's loyalty for a lower price," the political scientist has concluded.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.