Medvedev in surprise Crimea visit
Print Edition
ON a surprise visit yesterday to Crimea, Russia’s prime minister promised to quickly pour funds into the newly annexed peninsula so residents see positive changes after the Russian takeover.
Dmitry Medvedev, who led a delegation of Cabinet ministers to Crimea, pledged that Russia will quickly boost salaries and pensions there and pour in resources to improve education, health care and local infrastructure. A special government ministry has been created to oversee Crimea’s development.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine last month after a hastily called referendum held just two weeks after Russian forces had taken over the Black Sea region. Ukraine and the West have rejected the vote.
“People in Crimea mustn’t lose anything after joining Russia, they must only make gains,” Medvedev said in televised remarks. “People expect us to create conditions for calm and respectable life, confidence in tomorrow, the feeling of being part of a strong country. We must meet these expectations.”
He said the government will create a special economic zone in Crimea — a peninsula of 2 million people — that will create incentives for business with lower taxes and simpler rules.
Medvedev pledged that Russia will seek to develop the region as a top tourist destination and will try to ensure that air tickets are cheap enough to encourage more Russians to visit.
“We must create a new investment history for Crimea, which will be more successful than what it has been,” he said.
Medvedev emphasized the need to ensure a stable power supply. Crimea currently gets about 80 percent of its electricity and a similar share of its water from Ukraine, and power cutoffs last week raised fears that the Ukrainian government could use energy as a weapon to bargain with Russia.
He said Russia has made sure that Crimea has enough backup power capacity to ensure an uninterrupted electricity supply. Medvedev added that long-term solutions that could involve linking the region to Russia’s power grid or developing local power generation.
He said efforts will also be made to quickly repair the water supply infrastructure. In future, Crimea could get water supplies from Russia or create its own reservoirs.
Russia’s defense minister, meanwhile, announced yesterday that all Crimean men of conscription age will get a deferral from the draft for one year.
But making no mistake about Russia’s view of the strategic peninsula, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin tweeted a photo of himself upon arrival in Crimea with the words “Crimea is ours, and that’s that.”
In Moscow, the lower house of parliament voted unanimously yesterday to annul agreements with Ukraine on Russia’s navy base in Crimea. In 2010, Ukraine allowed Russia to extend the lease of the fleet’s base until 2042 on an annual rent of US$98 million and price discounts for Russian natural gas supplies.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
