Russia approves program to develop Far East, Baikal region

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday signed a decree to approve a state program to develop its Far East and the Baikal region.

The total funding for the program from the federal budget in the period of 2016-2025 amounts to 466.52 billion rubles (about 7.3 billion U.S. dollars), according to a document published on the Russian government's website.

The program will be carried out in two stages, with the first stage until 2020 and the second from 2021 to 2025.

It aims to improve the socio-economic development of the Far East and the Baikal region, meet the needs of the labor force and keep the population in the Far East, said the document.

Moreover, the program will create more than 100,000 jobs in the Far East.

The Baikal region has three federal subjects including Zabaykalsky Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatiya while the Far East lies between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean with nine federal subjects.
 [Xinhua -china.org.cn]
18/8/16