Dagestanis tell Putin about problems of highland villages and pollution of Caspian Sea

Russian President, who visited the Dagestani village of Botlikh, has promised to develop the infrastructure of mountain villages and to discuss with the Ministry of Finance a contractor for the upgrade of Makhachkala purification facilities.

Vladimir Putin, who visited Botlikh in August 1999 as Russian Premier, flew to the village on September 12, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the defeat of Basaev and Khattab detachments. The main events associated with this anniversary are planned in Dagestan on September 15, the "Interfax" informs.

At a meeting in Botlikh with members of the people's militias, the president heard complains about the Makhachkala purification facilities, whose poor operation results in the pollution of the Caspian Sea. The head of Dagestan, Vladimir Vasiliev, said that this year a new collector would be launched that will solve the problem. He asked Mr Putin not to hold a tender, but to appoint the department of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as the contractor for the works. The president promised to discuss the issue with the Minister of Finance (MoF), the RIA "Novosti" reports.

In his talk with Magomedali Magomedov, a former chairman of the State Council of Dagestan, who headed the republic during a militants' attack in 1999, Vladimir Putin promised to develop highland villages. "We talked [with Botlikh villagers] about the need to draft the respective plans for the development of mountain villages in general. We'll continue doing this by developing the infrastructure, roads, building new ones, and put in order social infrastructure facilities," the TASS quotes Mr Putin as saying.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 12, 2019 at 10:39 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.