Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called on oligarchs to help the victims of the wildfires raging across Russia.
"We must look into how the business community can help to assist in eliminating the effects of what has happened," Medvedev said during a meeting with Russian oligarchs.
He said that, even before the fires, life in the burnt-out villages had never been comfortable since many people lived in wooden huts without social or entertainment facilities.
Medvedev proposed building leisure facilities, such as sports and health centers, in the villages as a "sign of the revival of life."
Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, the owner of metals giant RusAl, said his company would assist in building 200 houses in a village in the Nizhny Novgorod region by mid-November.
"We looked at these old traditional villages. Some villages only have one or two houses. Life is hard there. Everything around is burnt out, but the residents want to stay," Deripaska said.
Leonid Mikhelson the CEO of Russia's largest independent gas producer, Novatek, said the company's shareholders would build 25 houses in Nizhny Novgorod region and 25 houses in the Republic of Mordovia by the end of October.
Our first priority is to get people settled and then we can work our what leisure facilities they need, Mikhelson said.
The wildfires that have been raging across Central Russia since mid-June have claimed 53 lives and left over 3,500 people homeless.
Areas affected by wildfires in Russia have been reduced by 8,000 hectares to 46,000 hectares over the past 24 hours.
SOCHI, August 16 (RIA Novosti)
