Russian PM Medvedev arrives in Crimea

A government delegation led by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will hold a meeting in Simferopol, the capital of the Republic of Crimea, on March 31. At the meeting, federal and regional officials will discuss the development of the former Ukrainian autonomy and the city of Sevastopol.

This is the first time, when a top Russian official pays a visit to the peninsula. Medvedev leads the delegation of First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, Sergei Prikhodko, Olga Golodets, Arkady Dvorkovich, Dmitry Rogozin, Yuri Trutnev and Alexander Khloponin, as well as other ministers and heads of relevant departments.

The meeting will be primarily devoted to the program of reforms on the Crimea after the region's reunification with Russia. The program was developed at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on March 24, 2014.

Medvedev then ordered the government to raise the salaries of the Crimean residents to the Russian level. For this purpose the government promised to allocate 36 billion rubles.

The meeting will also discuss the overall program of socio-economic development of the peninsula until 2020. Medvedev said that the region may soon turn into an independent territory from the economic point of view. To do this, the Prime Minister suggested a free economic zone should be created in the Crimea and Sevastopol.

In addition, the government will discuss the roadmap for the transition to the ruble settlement system.