In the morning, Vladimir Putin took a helicopter flight over the districts of the Krasnodar and Stavropol Regions and the Republic of Adygheya hardest hit by the flooding. From the helicopter the President viewed six villages where rebuilding operations were under way.
He made his first stop in the village Barsukovskaya in the Stavropol Region which had been almost entirely destroyed. The President visited this village in July and assured the flood victims that the state would give them all the necessary assistance and the destroyed houses would be rebuilt as quickly as possible. By now, some 4,000 houses had been rebuilt in Barsukovskaya. Mr Putin talked with builders and then visited a newly built house where a family of five now lives. The President had a cup a tea with the family and gave them a colour TV as a present.
In the afternoon, Mr Putin visited the Adygheyan village Yelenovskoye and then went to Maikop, the Republic’s capital, where he met with the regional leaders of the Southern Federal District. They discussed operations aimed at dealing with the aftermath of the flood and the coordination of the federal and regional authorities’ efforts in the fight against terrorism.
Vladimir Putin expressed his dissatisfaction with the pace of the construction and repair work in the southern regions hit by the flood, especially in the Krasnodar Region and the Republic of Adygheya.
He called on the authorities to take more effective measures when dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters. He stressed that every victim of the flood should have a roof over his/her head by December 1. Meanwhile, only 22.8% of all families have been provided with housing through construction or the purchase of apartments. President Putin asked the Economic Development and Trade Ministry to submit the complete list of flood victims in southern Russia and calculate the final sum of state assistance to the affected regions by November 10.
The President also underlined the need to devise new mechanisms for the work of law-enforcement agencies and the entire system of state institutions in the sphere of anti-terrorist activity. He drew the attention of the local authorities and security agencies to the legal potential of the law on combating extremism.