Putin opens major highway in Far East

Traffic along the Chita-Khabarovsk highway in the Russian Far East has been opened. Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the opening ceremony, the Vostok Media news agency reported.

Putin believes that the launch of traffic along the Chita-Khabarovsk highway is very important for the Far East as well as the whole of Russia. "This has been the second most important event after the Transsib railroad was opened," the President declared.

The federal highway Chita-Khabarovsk is a part of a transcontinental highway that runs through Russia from its western border to the Pacific Ocean. The laying of the Chita-Khabarovsk highway started in 1978. About 6.7bn rubles ($235m) were allocated to its construction from the federal budget in 2003.