Rushailo returns from inspection trip to Siberia

Vladimir Rushailo, secretary of Russia's Security Council, has reported his May 15-24 trip to the Siberian Federal District to President Putin's Monday conference with the Cabinet of Ministers.

He pointed out to some of the problems facing the district in question. "Not much is being done when it comes to protection of potentially perilous facilities of vital importance and infrastructure facilities from man-caused and natural threats, including the terrorist threat," he noted. "Nothing was done to overcome the negative tendencies in the public security sphere - crime rates remain high." The working group which traveled around the Siberian Federal District consisted of top executives from 36 ministries and departments, plus members of the Federation Council and representatives of the industrial and financial groups functioning in the region.

"The region's social and political situation is appraised as stable, characterized by positive dynamics of industrial and agricultural production," went on Rushailo. At the same time, there was a number of problems related to the military-and-industrial complex and research centers, he said, adding that the decision the Security Council had made on these issues was not being "fully realized." The group was particularly worried about the region's ecological situation: of the country's ten cities with the poorest ecology, five were situated in the Siberian Federal District, reported Rushailo. According to his words, the region's situation required a special program dealing with development of the northern areas. The Security Council secretary also pointed out to the region's "deteriorating major production facilities." "It is important to formulate clear tasks for the [government] blocs, the government and the presidential administration, so that we could be more effective in solving the region's problems, the number of which is larger than you said," the president told Rushailo.