You're reading: Associated Press: What annexing Crimea will cost Russia’s government

 MOSCOW — Despite the pebble beaches and cliff-hanging castles that made Crimea famous as a Soviet resort hub, the Black Sea peninsula has long been a corruption-riddled backwater in economic terms. The Kremlin, which decided to take the region from Ukraine after its residents voted in a referendum to join Russia, has begun calculating exactly what it will cost to support Crimea's shambolic economy — which one Russian minister described as "no better than Palestine."

Here's a look at what Crimea needs most and the economic challenges Russia faces in absorbing it:

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