During his visit to the centre, which will open on September 1, Vladimir Putin examined an operating room where open-heart surgeries will be held. A telemedicine system making it possible to follow surgeries on a screen will be installed in the operating room. The system will transmit surgeries to other cities and get all the necessary information on a real-time basis.

Mr Putin also inspected the centre's pediatric department.

Khabarovsk Territory Minister of Public Health Alexander Vitko explained to Mr Putin that 5,000 planned hi-tech surgeries, including 1,500 open-heart surgeries, can be held at the centre annually.

The centre in Khabarovsk is one of the seven Federal Centres for Cardiovascular Surgery being constructed in the federal districts under a government programme. The cost of construction of this centre is 3.3 billion roubles, of which 2.3 billion roubles have been allocated from the federal budget.