Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday expressed concern over the demographic situation in Russia’s Far East.
“In the last 20 years the population in the Far East has shrunk by a quarter,” he said during a visit to the Amur Region, adding that the area was sparsely populated even before the start of the decline.
He also said that 6.5 million people lived in the Far East Federal District as of January 1, and that 5,000 of these had already left – a tendency that Medvedev described as “extremely difficult” and complicating the work of social-economic systems.
The president also pointed out that falling population numbers made it harder to exploit natural resources and as a result the region was in need of both Russian and foreign specialists.
However he said that systems for attracting such specialists to the Far East “have not yet been created.”
“We need foreign specialists… across Russia and here in the Far East as in this region new production capacities are being introduced,” he said.
He also added that Russia needed to create a “civilized labor market and to ensure the rights of all who legally work in Russia as well as simultaneously battle against illegal immigration.”
BLAGOVESHCHENSK, July 3 (RIA Novosti)
