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At the beginning of the meeting, Sergei Melikov addressed an issue that currently concerns the entire country and people in Dagestan. The head of the republic emphasised that everyone in Dagestan supports the decisions of the authorities of the Russian Federation adopted on June 24, 2023; all decisions taken by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Putin noted that he did not doubt the reaction of Dagestan and all of Russia, and asked Sergei Melikov to report on the situation in the republic.

Sergei Melikov said that the republic’s social and economic development has been accomplished in accordance with the strategy adopted by the republic that outlines the first stage of development until 2025, and the second stage until 2030. The strategy prioritises the development of the social sphere and creating arrangements for the people. This year, the main efforts concentrate on the construction and major overhaul of education facilities. Most of them will have opened by September 1. The rest will open before the end of the year, according to the schedule.

As for the development of tourism in the North Caucasus and Dagestan, that was recently discussed at a meeting in Derbent. Sergei Melikov noted that Dagestan has a unique opportunity in this regard: as opposed to the other six regions of the North Caucasus Federal District, the republic has access to the sea. Therefore, the main efforts will be focused on the development of the Caspian Coastal Cluster.

The head of the republic said that he will request assistance from the Government of the Russian Federation in designing and implementing the project to build a national children’s centre. He noted that most health improvement camps are currently accommodating children from the new territories, including those under attack.

According to Sergei Melikov, the republic continues to focus its efforts on supporting its military personnel on duty in the zone of the special military operation. He emphasised that many of them have been presented with state awards and seven of them have become Heroes of the Russian Federation. On March 1, 2022, the All Together fund was established in the republic to provide assistance to the families of those participating in the special military operation. Since June 1, a branch of the Fatherland Defenders federal fund has been operating in Dagestan.

When answering the President’s question about the economic situation, Sergei Melikov noted that Dagestan did not feel the pressure of the external sanctions as much as the other Russian regions, and that the republic’s economy would be able to develop due to its domestic potential. He pointed out that the only problem was infrastructure and, provided that the work to develop it continued, there would be many production facilities, including a meat processing plant.

Sergei Melikov pointed to the example of winegrowing and winemaking. He said that Dagestan produced wines that could compete with any Western ones. He added that the republic had begun work to cultivate and create nurseries that would help it become independent from foreign products, including planting stock.