The president said his top priority was to create the conditions for people to return to the republic, in particular, the Russian-speaking community. He said that over 600,000 square meters of accommodation would be built in the republic in the next four years.
Alkhanov said he did not want to let Chechnya become an enclave with a predominantly indigenous population. He said the republic had always been ethnically diverse and had benefited greatly from this.
Before the 1994-1996 military campaign, the Chechen population consisted of 735,000 Chechens, 200,000 Russians, and 100,000 people from ethnic minorities, such as the Ingush and Jews. Alkhanov said about 200,000 ethnic Chechens had left the republic along with Russians since the mid-1990s.
