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Putin urges govt to oversee project linking Crimea with Russian mainland

Xinhua, March 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday urged the government to oversee the construction of Kerch Strait Bridge that could link Crimea with the Russian mainland.

After an on-site inspection of the bridge construction at the Tuzla island of Crimea, Putin hosted a government meeting on the bridge construction and the overall socioeconomic development of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

"It is necessary to establish public control over the construction and observation of environmental norms, intended expenditure of funds and observation of the period of construction. I suggest creating a public council for the bridge construction," Putin was quoted by a Kremlin transcript.

"The council will make it possible to use in effective and open way the knowledge of the public, experts and executive power bodies in the process of construction. It will make it possible to quickly resolve key issues for which people are concerned," Putin said.

The president hailed the Kerch bridge, once completed, as the key project that could create additional economic growth opportunities for Crimea, and further integrate the peninsula with mainland Russia.

The Russian Federal Road Agency authorized the construction of the 19-kilometer Kerch bridge in February. It is expected to open in December of 2018 and will become the longest bridge in Russia.

During Friday's meeting, Putin stressed that efforts should be concentrated on how to make Crimea a "dynamic, successful and self-sufficient" part of Russia.

The president urged to use to its maximum and in an effective way the special federal fund of over 700 billion rubles (over 10 billion U.S. dollars), which was adopted for the social and economic development of Crimea until 2020.

Putin also noted that thermal power plants would start operation in 2017 to ensure energy security in Crimea.

Russia on Friday marked the second anniversary of Crimea's incorporation into the country. On March 18 of 2014, Putin signed a treaty to integrate Crimea and its city of Sevastopol into Russia following a local referendum, which was not recognized by Ukraine and major Western countries. Enditem