Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, during his unscheduled working visit to Astrakhan, inspected the block of flats damaged by a household gas explosion

Vladimir Putin holds a meeting of the government commission on investigating the causes and dealing with the aftermath of the explosion in a residential house in Astrakhan

The prime minister instructed the government to relocate the residents of the damaged house and to provide 300 million roubles for this purpose. He also asked head of the commission Viktor Zubkov “to work on boosting control over such high-risk facilities.”

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, together with residents of the building in Astrakhan destroyed by a gas explosion, tours new housing for accident victims

During his visit to Bashkortostan Prime Minister Vladimir Putin takes part in the national agrarian forum in Ufa

“Agriculture has proven to be one of the most lucrative industries in the national economy. Measures that have been taken to support it have proven very effective.”

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with Rustem Khamitov, head of Bashkortostan

Putin pointed to the republic’s good economic performance. Khamitov said they would continue the consistent progress and that the necessary conditions for it exist.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on issues of military-technical cooperation

Participants in the meeting discussed the results of military-technical cooperation in 2011 and proposals to improve such cooperation in 2012.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin conducts a videoconference on tackling the collapse of an entrance to an apartment block in Astrakhan

The prime minister instructed the government to begin resettling residents from the part of the building destroyed by the gas explosion at once and to pay them compensation for any lost property.