MOSCOW. April 19 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to draw up a set of measures to improve living standards in the Kherson region and the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR).
"I first talked about my trip to the Kherson region and the Lugansk [People's Republic], what I noticed there: I have not seen so many old cars, Lada and Zhiguli [cars] for a long time. What does it mean? This is that the people's incomes are rather modest. The car fleet immediately suggests certain thoughts. At the same time, what I have seen is all cleaned up, all neat and tidy. This means that people living here are disciplined, hardworking, but they certainly need real aid," Putin at a meeting with members of the government.
The prices in these regions "are even higher than in the Rostov region," he said. In this regard, he turned to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin with a proposal to consider how to eliminate this imbalance.
"There are some things that can be done quite promptly, including in your area. Here is to support agricultural producers, to expand the capacity of on-site processing of agricultural products, to invest - to provide an opportunity to local [businesses] - or to draw investment from other regions, to create storage facilities there for goods produced in these areas [...]. There is a lot to do there," Putin said.