MOSCOW - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia would not reduce funding for the impoverished and volatile North Caucasus region despite criticism from the opposition and a rising wave of nationalism in the rest of the country.
Putin, campaigning to support his flagging popularity ratings ahead of March 2012 presidential election, made a surprise visit to Chechnya where Russia fought two wars with separatist rebels.
A "Stop Feeding Caucasus" slogan is gaining popularity among Russians, stunned with images of new mosques and shiny buildings in the Chechen capital Grozny, destroyed in heavy fighting between the separatists and the Russian army in the 1990s.
The slogan was also picked up by some nationalist-minded opposition leaders like lawyer Alexei Navalny who is serving a 15-day jail sentence for disrupting public order during mass protests in Moscow after the Dec. 4 election.
Putin said that a reduction in investment would bring more migrants from North Caucasus into the large Russian cities "along with all the problems it causes" in a clear reference to last year’s nationalist riots next to the Kremlin.
"What will we do then? Kick them all out? But where will they go? They will join the insurgency," Putin said, according to a transcript of the meeting posted on the government’s website. "And the fratricidal war will carry on."
$120 BILLION FOR NORTH CAUCASUS
In December 2010, a crowd of nationalists, angered by a murder of a football fan, clashed with police and attacked non-Slavic minorities, prompting a heated public debate over the Kremlin’s policy towards North Caucasus.
The government this year drafted a programme for the region’s development to 2025 which sees about $120 billion of investment but the programme has not yet been approved with disagreements flaring over the final figure.
Critics argue that money flowing into North Caucasus is stolen by corrupt officials. In his blog in March 2011 Navalny attacked an official from Dagestan who ordered a car worth $265,000 using public money, questioning why a minister of a poor region drive such an expensive vehicle.
"The whole republic does nothing. Unemployment is huge. I am sure that most of the world’s presidents drive around in more modest cars," Navalny wrote at the time.
Putin said that because of the funding, Chechnya was now a far cry from the war-torn region which he visited on New Year’s eve in 1999 before launching his first bid for presidency.
Official results showed Putin’s United Russia party had received 99.5 percent of the vote in Chechnya, run by Putin loyalist Ramzan Kadyrov – a result which made the opposition cry foul. Other republics also backed United Russia.
Kadyrov, who hosted a glitzy opening ceremony for a skyscraper complex that was attended by Hollywood stars and coincided with his 35th birthday, said he was receiving money from Allah.
Political analysts say the final figure for the investment programme for North Caucasus will be unveiled ahead of the March 2012 election to ensure strong support for Putin.
