MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to deal with the consequences of a devastating flood in the country’s Far East, the Kremlin reported.
Several weeks of flooding, which according to Russian meteorologists are the worst in the region in 120 years, have affected the Amur and Magadan regions, the Jewish Autonomous Region, and the Khabarovsk and Primorye territories, as well as in the Siberian republic of Yakutia.
In line with the decree signed Saturday, overcoming the consequences of the flood is one of the most important state tasks.
The affected regions’ authorities should by September 5 set up commissions to deal with the flood consequences.
The Russian government considers allotting 12 billion rubles ($360 million) to victims of a massive flood that ravaged the country’s far eastern reaches, a spokeswoman for the Russian emergency services said Saturday. The money, which will come from a state emergency fund, is to fund rebuilding efforts and compensations for flood victims.
President Vladimir Putin said Saturday the government must begin payments to victims by September 10.
The federal government has so far allotted 3.2 billion rubles ($96 million) to flood cleanup, including planned compensations for the 102,000 flood victims, many of whom lost their houses to the unprecedented calamity.
Putin on Saturday fired his envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, Viktor Ishayev, appointing in his place presidential aide Yury Trutnev. Ishayev also lost his job as Far East development minister, though a Kremlin spokesman denied the dismissal was linked to the flood.
