Crimean Infrastructure to Be Almost Entirely Rebuilt by 2020

The Crimean minister of economic development said the region's infrastructure will be almost entirely rebuilt before 2020.

SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik) — The infrastructure of the Crimean region will be almost entirely rebuilt before 2020 in accordance with a federal program, Crimean Minister of Economic Development Valentin Demidov said on Thursday.

"In fact, the major part of the infrastructure will be rebuilt, the Tavrida highway passing through the whole Crimea will be constructed, a bridge linking Crimea with mainland Russia will be built, as well as many other facilities," Demidov said.

He added that Ukraine had not invested money in the development of Crimea before its reunification with Russia and all the existing infrastructure had been created in Soviet times.

Crimea, Russia's historical southern region, seceded from Ukraine to rejoin Russia in March 2014. Almost 97 percent of the region's population voted for reunification in a referendum. Sevastopol, which has a federal city status, supported the move by 95.6 percent of votes. The referendum was held after a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

In August 2014, the Russian government approved the Federal Targeted Program Social and Economic Development for Crimea and Sevastopol Until 2020, allocating 681 billion rubles ($10.6 billion). The program aims at dynamic development of the region, its transport and social infrastructure, as well as improving the quality of people’s life.