Putin instructs government to approve by February 2015 long-term rural development strategy

MOSCOW, May 6 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the RF government to work out a long-term strategy of sustainable development of Russia’s rural territories. The document should be approved by February 1, 2015, it is said in the list of instructions of the RF head of state on the results of a meeting of the State Council on this matter that was held on April 21. The Kremlin official website reports that the aim of the strategy is to form the uniform state policy in the sphere of the development of territories and improving living standards of the rural population. The strategy, in particular, should be aimed at the “improvement of the demographic situation and ensuring employment of the rural population,” as well as the development of social and engineering infrastructure (accelerated gas infrastructure development, improvement of the supply of quality drinking water, as well as provision of Internet access are also implied). In addition, the strategy should envisage the ethnic-cultural development, “the preservation and replenishment of cultural heritage of rural settlements,” the creation and development of handicraft centres, “improvement of the efficiency of the work of pubic passenger transport,” “support of agricultural co-operatives” and improvement of skills of personnel. The future document will set also another task - to develop the rural and ecological tourism. The federal target programme “sustainable development of rural territories for 2014 - 2017 and up to 2020,” as well as a number of RF state agricultural programmes should be adjusted to the long-term strategy. In addition, Putin instructed to include in the above federal target programme activities aimed at the construction and reconstruction of automobile roads to important facilities of rural settlements, excluding these activities from the transport federal target programme. Learn more on itar-tass.com