ID :
163660
Thu, 02/24/2011 - 08:37
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http://m.oananews.org//node/163660
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Kaliningrad governor plans to decrease dependence on food imports
KALININGRAD, February 24 (Itar-Tass) - Kaliningrad governor Nikolai
Tsukanov said his region plans to decrease the dependence on food imports by expanding crop areas. He said so in the course of his meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
At present, 45 percent of land in the Kaliningrad region are farmland,
although 90 percent of all available land are suitable for farming. He
noted the problem of ineffective land use.
"We've worked out a program to offer stimuli to land owners, and plan
to reclaim 10 percent of land for farming each year, in order not to
depend on imported food," the governor said.
He also briefed the prime minister on the plans to develop the health
care system. Federal budget allocations for the purpose make up 2.8
billion roubles in 2011, and the regional budget has earmarked as much.
However, even these funds are insufficient to implement t all the plans.
The regional authorities planned to receive 5 billion roubles from the
federal budget to upgrade the health care system. For example, the
Kaliningrad region needs a medical center for complex surgery, as it is problematic for local residents to travel to other regions. In this
connection, the governor asked the premier to help with additional funding of the regional health care program.
Putin asked Tsukanov about the situation with utility tariffs this
year. The governor said the authorities had kept the growth of tariffs at 5.5 percent in Kaliningrad, where almost half of the region's population lives and at 7 percent in other districts. The gas and heat supply tariffs have not been marked up this year, according to the governor.
Tsukanov said his region plans to decrease the dependence on food imports by expanding crop areas. He said so in the course of his meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
At present, 45 percent of land in the Kaliningrad region are farmland,
although 90 percent of all available land are suitable for farming. He
noted the problem of ineffective land use.
"We've worked out a program to offer stimuli to land owners, and plan
to reclaim 10 percent of land for farming each year, in order not to
depend on imported food," the governor said.
He also briefed the prime minister on the plans to develop the health
care system. Federal budget allocations for the purpose make up 2.8
billion roubles in 2011, and the regional budget has earmarked as much.
However, even these funds are insufficient to implement t all the plans.
The regional authorities planned to receive 5 billion roubles from the
federal budget to upgrade the health care system. For example, the
Kaliningrad region needs a medical center for complex surgery, as it is problematic for local residents to travel to other regions. In this
connection, the governor asked the premier to help with additional funding of the regional health care program.
Putin asked Tsukanov about the situation with utility tariffs this
year. The governor said the authorities had kept the growth of tariffs at 5.5 percent in Kaliningrad, where almost half of the region's population lives and at 7 percent in other districts. The gas and heat supply tariffs have not been marked up this year, according to the governor.
