Lord Judd saw positive changes in Chechnya

Co-chairman of the joint Duma-PACE working group on Chechnya Lord Judd has announced positive changes in the Chechen republic.

At a meeting in Grozny with representatives of the republic's government on Wednesday Lord Judd stated that changes for the better were evident. The republic "is organizing peaceful life, though with difficulty," he said.

Lord Judd is spending a second day in Chechnya. After studying the republic's situation he is expected to report about it at the PACE autumn session.

Head of the Chechen government Stanislav Ilyasov during the meeting with Lord Judd reported that 120,000 new jobs, mainly in the agricultural sector, had been created in the republic in the last two years. In the near future 30,000 more people will be employed. New jobs will appear very soon, when a sugar factory in the town of Argun is put into operation, Ilyasov explained.

This year the republic has harvested 400,000 tons of corn, while its own needs do not exceed 150,000 tons, he pointed out.

When speaking on the situation with the displaced people, the head of the government said that only in summer dozens of thousands people had returned to Chechnya from neighbouring regions.

On Wednesday, Lord Judd is expected to visit two camps of temporary accommodation for the displaced in Grozny and a secondary school.