MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin called for a prompt resolution of Kaliningrad's travel restrictions to and from mainland Russia as he met with the governor of the Baltic exclave Monday.
"We often say Kaliningrad is Russia's outpost in Europe and that it should be up to its title on all counts. I'm referring here both to the infrastructure and to the people's standards of living. But most importantly, we need to finally resolve all the problems related to the region's links with the rest of the Russian Federation," Putin told Georgy Boos at a Kremlin meeting.
Boos, appointed Kaliningrad Governor in September, said his first month in office had been devoted to restructuring the regional budget and raising public-sector wages and pensions. Another top priority of his has been the development of the region's energy infrastructure, he reported, stressing its increasing relevance in the face of the planned shutdown of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, in neighboring Lithuania.
Kaliningrad's energy needs are largely met by supplies from that Soviet-era facility, but the European Union now wants it closed for safety reasons.
Kaliningrad has been a contentious issue between Moscow and the European Union since Lithuania, separating the exclave from mainland Russia, joined the EU in May last year.
Officials in Moscow have repeatedly expressed their concern over Lithuania's continued attempts to hinder the transit of Russian passengers and cargoes, including the planned introduction of new customs declaration requirements for personal luggage and freights starting January 1, 2006, as well as of a ban on medications containing petty doses of narcotic substances.
