Khabarovsk region's governor comments on state support to Far East

The program of development of the Russian Far East should be a stateprogram not regional, Viktor Ishayev, governor of the Khabarovsk region,declared at a meeting devoted to questions of the social and economicdevelopment of the Far East, which is held in Vladivostok today. Thegovernor stressed that after the Soviet Union was dissolved, the statestopped fulfilling its obligations. The region's relations with Russiadropped by 90 percent. Currently the volume of the region's productsdelivered to Russia's central regions is only 10 percent of the previousvolume, he specified.Due to high energy and heating tariffs the energy cost's share in theproduction cost of the Far Eastern products exceeds 70 percent, so theseproducts cannot compete with other products. The budget policy is of fiscalcharacter. The more the Khabarovsk region earns, the more the federalcenter takes, the governor pointed out.He also stressed that the federal program aimed at supporting the FarEast's development had been financed only by 14 percent. The region needsthis program. However it is necessary to balance this program with thebudget's possibilities and with strategic objectives of the state to makethis program work efficiently, Ishayev concluded..