• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Russia premier promises to pour funds into Crimea

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 31, 2014 3:51PM GMT

The Russian prime minister has vowed to rapidly pour funds into the newly-joined Crimea region in order to improve the social and economic situation of its people.

Dmitry Medvedev, who arrived in the peninsula on Monday leading a delegation of Cabinet ministers, said that Moscow would quickly increase salaries and pensions there and pour in resources to make education, health care and local infrastructure better.

"People in Crimea mustn't lose anything after joining Russia, they must only make gains," Medvedev said, adding, "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."

A special government ministry has been established in Russia to supervise Crimea's development.

Meanwhile, the Russian premier noted that the government plans to create a special economic zone in Crimea that would provide incentives for business with lower taxes and simpler rules. Medvedev added that Russia wants to develop the region as a top tourist destination.

"We must create a new investment history for Crimea, which will be more successful than what it has been," he said.

He further said that Moscow would make sure that Crimea has stable power and water supplies as the region at present gets about 80 percent of its electricity and a similar share of its water from Ukraine.

Medvedev's visit comes less than two weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 21 signed into law documents that officially made Crimea part of the Russian territory.

Crimea declared independence from Ukraine and formally applied to become part of the Russian Federation following a referendum on March 16, in which nearly 97 percent of the voters in Crimea said yes to reunion with Russia.

Ukraine has denounced Medvedev's visit to Crimea as a "crude violation" of the rules of international behavior.

MR/AB/SS