MOSCOW, September 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's president Vladimir Putin strongly criticized Friday the corruption of power bodies and inefficiency of law enforcement agencies in southern regions. "Power bodies are often used as a tool of unfair competition, or, speaking directly, are being corrupted," he said at a meeting with governors of 13 southern regions. "We know it is a general problem for Russia, but I would like to draw special attention to the south."
The president said abuse of administrative power undermined business activity in the region, making it sluggish and overly regulated.
According to Putin, bureaucratic pressure was forcing businesses to expand "shadow" activities, which ultimately meant unpaid taxes, low revenues of regional budgets and poor social protection of local residents.
The president mentioned the discrepancy between the high economic and human potential of the region and the poor current state of affairs there, adding that local authorities must efficiently use available resources and federal support to boost economic growth in the region.
Russia's south includes Chechnya, where Moscow troops are still hunting for the remaining separatist forces whose leaders are often accused of staging terrorist acts, and Daghestan, where attacks on police are frequent.
Putin said he had "serious questions" over the work of law enforcement bodies in those regions.
"The number of law enforcement personnel is constantly growing at the expense of their quality and professionalism," he said.
Instead of carrying out their direct tasks, law enforcement bodies were often used for unrelated purposes and sometimes interfered with business activities without any reason.
"We must take urgent measures to increase the efficiency of law enforcement bodies in the country and particularly in the Southern Federal District," he said, adding that the increased activity of extremist groups was destabilizing the situation in the region.
