Senators listen to Alu Alkhanov's report

The Federation Council has introduced a new practice: for the first time, the upper chamber of parliament invited a candidate for the post of a Russian Federation constituent member to give a report, Kommersant writes. The candidate in question is Chechen Interior Minister Alu Alkhanov, who has been nominated for the republic's presidency by the team of late president, Akhmad Kadyrov.

Mr. Aklhanov told the senators about the situation in Chechnya and the urgent measures required to restore the republic. The pace of "normalizing political life surpasses that of economic restoration," he emphasized. At the same time, some funds allocated for Chechnya's restoration are misused or not even received by the republic. Mr. Alkhanov believes that a solution is for Moscow and Grozny to sign an agreement granting Chechnya the status of a free economic zone until 2013.