SIMFEROPOL. Aug 5 (Interfax) - Russia will continue to develop Crimea despite sanctions and the Ukrainian leadership's hostile attitude toward Russia, says Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Russian Security Council.
"This work will have to be done amid economic sanctions imposed on Russia and the existence of a political leadership in neighboring Ukraine that has a hostile attitude toward Russia," Patrushev said at a conference in Simferopol on Wednesday.
The social and economic situation in Crimea is complicated due to a combination of external and internal factors, Patrushev said.
"There are, certainly, a number of objective reasons, [including] Ukraine's steps toward the peninsula's transport blockade, the blocking of the water supply through the Northern Crimean Canal, and the Republic of Crimea's and the city of Sevastopol's energy dependence on Ukraine," he said.
However, Crimea's development has been hampered by a large part because of inefficient public administration, Patrushev said.