Transcript of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon.

Regrettably, the weather had had some more surprises for us this season, in the form of abnormally low temperatures. A number of regions have developed problems as a result of this cold snap. In general, all services must keep this in mind. I’d like to hear about what is happening today. What is the scale of these problems? How serious are they? What is being done by the utility companies and at the regional and federal levels to assist people and to resolve these problems, and what is in store for the future?

I’d like you to keep strictly to the subject. This is a production meeting. Please, be as specific as possible and suggest your proposals for improving the situation. Let’s get to work. Mr Shoigu, please take the floor.

Sergei Shoigu: Thank you, Mr Putin. We have registered abnormal temperatures in 56 regions.

Vladimir Putin: Where are the worst problems? Dagestan…

Sergei Shoigu: The Krasnodar Territory…

Vladimir Putin: The Krasnodar Territory, the Murmansk Region and Volgograd. They have problems with roads.

Sergei Shoigu: Yes, motorways.

Vladimir Putin: Please go ahead.

Sergei Shoigu: During this time we have registered 64 incidents in the communal services, including 35 in housing services and utilities, 23 failures in electricity generation and six transport problems (in Volgograd). Repeated disruptions of the supply of electricity in the Krasnodar Territory have caused the biggest problems. The most recent incidents occurred yesterday and today. All break-downs are being fixed as part of the general effort to deal with the consequences of the storms. Traffic was interrupted on the P-228 motorway in the Murmansk Region and on some roads in the Saratov and Volgograd regions. On the whole the Russian emergency alert system is functioning well. We regularly take warning measures and alert our units. A full-strength task force is currently deployed (in the Murmansk Region) and additional maintenance and installation teams have also been sent there. The work is scheduled to be completed on February 18. To minimize the effects, 302 interagency mobile task forces have been patrolling 21 federal and 43 regional motorways. The priority of these task forces are vehicles that have become trapped or have broken down and large convoys; they help refuel vehicles and keep drivers warm, pull out vehicles that have become stuck and look after drivers. The task forces have been formed jointly by the Ministry of Healthcare, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of the Interior. Additionally, 2,540 heating centres have been organised; another 685 heating centres have been organised jointly with the executive authorities in 593 cities and populated localities. More than 4,000 people have used them during the last 24 hours alone, and over 30,000 during the entire period.

In view of the emerging situation, we have carried out a set of measures to prepare the authorities, staff and equipment for working under these adverse conditions. Emergency forces and equipment have been put on high alert, as well as reserve technical facilities and stand-by electric power sources. As regards backup power sources, we have ensured that 3,900 diesel power units are ready and on standby if needed. Such units have already been put to good use on vital infrastructure facilities in the Krasnodar Territory. The same is happening today, too.

We have adopted additional precautions against household fires and stepped up monitoring of fire regulations compliance. Joint drills have been held with the relevant authorities in the Emergencies Ministry, and stricter administrative controls have been introduced. Training has been given to people running temporary accommodation centres. As of today, we have 30,000 such centres ready to receive evacuees (God forbid, of course) from the most heavily affected and high-risk areas. That is all.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Is Mr Basargin here? You have the floor, please!

Viktor Basargin: Mr Putin, colleagues, we have predicted the severe weather in the Russian Federation. At our telephone conferences in this centre on December 27, January 20 and February 2 and 3, we instructed the constituent entities to tighten their monitoring of the vital infrastructure facilities and industries during the cold period. What has been done since the start of this year to get through the unusually cold weather without any major glitches? We have 6,144 mobile diesel power plants, 85 mobile boiler modules, and 764 reserve boilers on stand-by across the country. In compliance with the plan for 2012, we have provided all heating supply sources, water supply sources, and nearly 100% of reserve power supply sources. These are the figures: 81% of facilities have additional heating supply, 77% water supply, and almost 98% of housing and public utilities companies have enough material resources to address emergencies on vital infrastructure facilities.

In accordance with your instructions, 160,000 tonnes of emergency supplies of heating oil have been put aside on 13 sites of the Federal Agency for State Reserves, in 11 regions, to ensure we have enough supplies during the extreme cold period in the event of an interruption to normal supplies. We haven’t tapped the reserves so far and we are hoping not to have to this year. We are trying to respond promptly to all emerging problems. Mr Shoigu has already said that we held training sessions to ensure cooperation between the regions and the emergency services of the Regional Development Ministry and the Energy Ministry. We have also ensured that all services in the regions are running. This cold spell has regrettably led to burst heating pipes in Volgograd, Vladimir, Kirov, Nizhni Novgorod, St Petersburg, Saransk, as well as in the Leningrad, Rostov, and Tula Regions. These were fixed promptly, but we understand that these failures could have been avoided. On the whole, however, the housing and amenities services are coping adequately, even though we can see problems in those towns that are still controlled by the Defence Ministry or are being handed over to the municipalities. Almost all of these have failed to adequately prepare for the autumn and winter extremes and lack the relevant preparation certificates. As a result, we have problems in the Murmansk Region, where heat distribution was cut to 21 buildings due to a boiler room accident. We plan to complete these repairs by February 18.

There were also breakdowns in the Krasnodar Territory and the Volgograd Region, where backup power sources prevented a disaster (Mr Shoigu mentioned this). But all the housing and utility facilities in the Krasnodar Territory are in regular operating mode. We believe backup power systems should be installed at every vital facility. The authorities in regions where boiler facilities run on gas should consider installing backup power systems that use other fuels. It has become a priority now. But overall, I repeat, we basically have the situation under control and don’t expect anymore major malfunctions during peak cold periods, that is, if the local authorities properly prepared for the cold season. Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: You say you don’t expect any major malfunctions, but over 2,000 people have no heat now. Isn’t this a serious malfunction? I say it is.

Alright, I am giving the floor to Mr Shmatko.

Sergei Shmatko: Mr Putin, colleagues. I believe the country’s energy system is stable. We set a new record in early February by producing 155 GW of electricity. Despite the extreme cold, we have not had to restrict gas as stipulated under Diagram 1, and we are working with Gazprom on a daily basis. We have no intention of initiating Diagram 1 at this point. The power companies have been requested to limit consumption to a specified figure and to try to abide by that to ensure the stability of the gas network. However, the consumption of fuel oil as a reserve fuel has grown four- or fivefold due to the extreme cold. We currently consumer 45,000-50,000 tonnes of fuel oil a day. I can report on our efforts to stabilise prices that there are no major deviations from the average figures in the day-ahead electricity market despite peak loads and fuel oil consumption. We are doing our best to prevent such deviations.

The load has reached 152 GW, which means that we have sufficient reserves in the energy generation and distribution system. The situation is somewhat alarming in Dagestan where energy consumption has increased 16% due to unusually cold weather. The Cherkesskaya Hydroelectric Power Station is not working at full capacity because of low water levels, and Azerbaijan has reduced its electricity supply in the past few days, probably because they have the same problem.

What are we doing about it? First, we are using the electric energy system’s cross-flow capacity and have changed the schedule of the Irganayskaya power station. Overall, we believe that we have control over the situation, but unless things improve considerably we may still have to limit electricity distribution under our agreement with the Dagestani authorities. I repeat that the grid and distribution network are our biggest concerns during this extreme cold spell. It was noted here that the breakdowns in the Krasnodar Territory left about 250,000 people without electricity in late January. But our colleagues from the Krasnodar Territory are saying that the connection has been restored, with the exception of a few buildings with unstable connections.

On the other hand, the situation in Astrakhan was pretty dramatic: temperatures there fell to minus 37 Celsius on February 8. This caused the electricity pylons to contract which in turn twisted the cables. This is a new phenomenon that has never been reported in the region before. However, electricity consumption limitations in Astrakhan, as well as in Kalmykia and the Krasnodar Territory, which I told you about, were dealt with within 24 hours. All of our utility companies are working to capacity. Despite what we have accomplished, the IDGC group in the southern regions is kept on alert. Assistance has been provided to IDGC of the South and IDGC of the North Caucasus, and hence we have no serious concerns now. This ends my reports.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Mr Dyadyuchenko, the cold is distributed somehow unusually across our country. In Norilsk, where it should be particularly cold, we have a more or less normal temperature, while in places where no one expected such low temperatures, they cropped up suddenly. What are our prospects?

Valery Dyadyuchenko (Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring): Mr Putin, colleagues. The severe frosts hit large parts of Russia as the result of an extensive and slow-moving anticyclone. From Yakutia to Western Europe there is a high atmospheric pressure near the ground, which is responsible for the low temperatures and little or rather, very little precipitation.

At the same time, surrounding the periphery of this powerful anticyclone on the northern shores of Russia, in the Far East and the Caucasus, cyclones have brought heavy snowstorms and blizzards. In areas of low temperature in many regions of Russia, as can be seen on the map, many regions maintain temperatures well below freezing. Last night in the east of Yakutia, the air temperature dropped to as low as negative 57 degrees Celsius. In the central parts of the Magadan Region, the temperature was 53 degrees below zero, in the north of the Khabarovsk Territory, 47 degrees below zero, in Buryatia minus 44 degrees, in the Irkutsk Region and Tuva minus 41 degrees. In the central and northern areas of the Ural Federal District, northern parts of the Volga and southern parts of the Northwestern federal districts, nighttime temperatures fell to 33 degrees below zero, and in the Southern Federal District to 29 degrees below zero. The current slide shows the forecast of the average temperature anomalies for the week, and it can be said that the temperatures I indicated will stabilise somewhat in the next five days.

The next slide shows the ten-day forecast. It is apparent from this forecast, from today until February 18, that the air temperature across the entire territory of the Central Federal District will be 8 to 10 degrees below the norm. In the Northwestern, Volga, Southern and North Caucasus federal districts and in the south of the Siberian Federal District the air temperature will be 4 to 6 degrees below the norm. But in the south and east of the Far Eastern Federal District the air temperatures will be near the norm, and in the northern areas of the Ural, northern and central parts of the Siberian and Far Eastern federal districts there is a positive anomaly, with the air temperatures expected to be 10 to 16 degrees above the norm, but of course still below freezing. Thus, the forecast for average air temperature anomalies over the next ten days shows that the temperatures below and far below the norm will remain over a vast territory across Russia. Besides, as I have said, an anticyclone prevails over a vast territory and in the area (as can be seen on the screen) highlighted blue and dark blue there is a shortage of winter precipitation, which indicates that there is a below average amount of snow in these blue areas, which may threaten the availability of water in these regions. That concludes my report.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Mr Tkachyov (addressing Krasnodar Territory Governor Alexander Tkachyov), what is the situation like in Novorossiisk and Gelendzhik?

Alexander Tkachyov: Good evening, Mr Putin.

Vladimir Putin: Hello there.

Alexander Tkachyov: It has been a rather difficult 48 hours. The Krasnodar Territory has not experienced such weather for some 40 years. Temperatures have dropped to minus 32 degrees Celsius, and wind speeds of 47 metres per second have been reported near Novorossiisk and Anapa. Of course, this hurricane-force wind has caused us a lot of trouble. Naturally, the port was closed, and the local embankment is completely covered with ice. The city is virtually unrecognisable. Thank God, there were no fatalities. We had to cooperate with power utilities and the Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief during this sufficiently difficult period. I would like to use this opportunity and to thank the power grid company MRSK and the Ministry of Energy, the grid company FSK, the Emergencies Ministry and all those who have helped. They did not leave us to our own devices during this difficult time. We have used about 500 diesel generators. We bought some of them, and we borrowed the rest from all over the entire territory. Novorossiisk had been virtually blacked out. Consequently, we used field kitchens and buses as mobile canteens. We also issued food and flashlights. Not a single boiler room was shut down as a result of such work, we didn’t freeze anything, and we had restored power supply citywide by 8.00 a.m. Incidentally, there were partial power shutoffs in Tuapse and Anapa. We are currently restoring damaged facilities. Costs total about 220 million roubles. We are now tackling this problem rather actively. By the way, Sergei Shmatko visited us two weeks ago. He took part in clean-up operations. We experienced these events together. I would like to thank him separately for this. 

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Mr Churikov (addressing Gennady Churikov, Deputy Governor of the Volgograd Region), from the Volgograd Region, you now have the floor.

Gennady Churikov: Mr Putin, colleagues, I would like to tell you that facilities of the region’s housing and utilities infrastructure are now operating as scheduled. All liquid-fuel boiler rooms have accumulated standard 30-day fuel reserves totalling 740 tonnes. The region’s housing and utilities sector has established teams for repairing sewage pipes, heating mains, gas supply and water supply facilities. All socially important facilities of the regional housing and utilities sector have been equipped with reserve power supply sources, allowing for their uninterrupted operation.

It should be noted that we have managed to considerably reduce equipment failure volumes by about 30% during the current heating season. All shutoffs were rectified in accordance with standard deadlines. Notably, it took us ten hours to seal a rupture in Volgograd’s Sovetsky District. Temperatures dropped sharply all over the region beginning with January 20. Consequently, all regional state and municipal agencies are monitoring the operation of the housing and utilities sector’s engineering mains and those of the social sphere round the clock. We took preventive action in order to guarantee the operation of vital infrastructure components in the most at-risk residential areas. On the whole, the sub-system of the Unified State System for
Emergency Situations has been placed on red alert all over the region. We prioritise the region’s districts located on the right bank of the Volga River, namely, the Staraya Poltavka, Pallasovka, Nikolayevsk and Bykovo districts. And, of course, the Kamyshin Municipal District is on top of the list because the local situation is the most complicated due to sub-zero temperatures, heavy snowfalls and snowstorms.  

Access to ten communities via roads and highways has currently been impaired. But communities are being resupplied using Los and Bobr off-road vehicles which can cross snow-covered and marshy terrain. These vehicles drive along a bypass route towards the above-mentioned communities. We are maintaining law and order, as well as communications and medical support. Three small children and two pregnant women have been recently evacuated to hospitals from villages in the Kamyshin Municipal District. Some local dwellers were also evacuated to other communities. All communities have received enough food. It should be noted that 22 pieces of equipment now operate on a federal motorway between Kamyshin and the border with the Saratov region. Roads leading to other communities are also being cleared round the clock. Off-duty equipment operators are receiving food, mail and, if necessary, medical assistance. Incoming convoys are escorted by traffic police cars.

The situation in other districts of the region remains stable. All snow-removal equipment, regardless of its form of ownership, has been mobilised. Available reserve funding and reserve technical resources, including, of course, petroleum, oil and lubricants, are ready to be replenished. I would like to note that the Volgograd Region’s federal and regional agencies are ready to accomplish specific objectives in line with their powers. That will be all.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Mr Magomedov (addressing Magomedsalam Magomedov, head of the Republic of Dagestan), please tell us about the situation in Dagestan.

Magomedsalam Magomedov: Esteemed Mr Putin, indeed, the Republic of Dagestan is experiencing unheard-of weather conditions and anomalous freezing temperatures. Last night, temperatures in Makhachkala had dropped down to minus 27 degrees Celsius. Temperatures dropped to minus 34-35 degrees in the republic’s northern districts. This is a real aberration for our southern republic. Naturally, this has caused an upsurge in gas and power consumption. The minister of energy has rightly noted that our systems are being subjected to peak loads. However, no major setbacks have been reported, all gas, water, heat and power supply systems are functioning as usual. Any shutoffs have been rectified in accordance with established deadlines. There have been several accidents in the water supply system, but all of them were rectified within 24 hours. We also faced a situation linked with low gas pressure because our republic receives part of its gas from the Republic of Azerbaijan. They also experienced problems, and gas supply was discontinued as a result. I had to get in touch with the leadership of Azerbaijan and ask them for help.

They resumed feeding gas today, and Gazprom also increased gas supply, so all the communities, all the consumers are getting all the gas they need. There are no customers who had gas or power supply cut. We carried out massive preparations, all the routine preparation of housing and utilities for the autumn and winter season was completed on schedule and all the necessary stocks and reserves were formed. Today all the housing and utilities enterprises are operating in a heightened mode, all the emergency and dispatcher teams are operating normally. The situation on the roads is stable, our road workers are cleaning all the federal and republican roads and spreading sand on them. We have the necessary stocks of chemicals. On the whole all the critical systems in the republic, faced with these truly anomalous conditions, are operating in a satisfactory manner, without any unscripted situations.

Vladimir Putin: Indeed, minus 30 degrees and below is unusual for Dagestan, but as you said, all the gas systems and power supply systems are operating normally. You know, I have different information. If one assumes that in some communities they are not performing or underperforming, then of course, you could say that they are operating normally. But this is not normal. Gas pipelines are not working in some communities. Check on it again and report back.

Magomedsalam Magomedov: Yes, that was due to low gas pressure in the Gazprom system. Now gas supply has been fully restored and there is not a single community to which gas is not being fed.

Vladimir Putin: Are you sure?

Magomedsalam Magomedov: Yes. Gazprom representatives are taking part in the conference call and they have the situation under control.

Vladimir Putin: Where is that Gazprom representative? Let him come to the mike.

Kerim Guseinov (Director General of Gazprom Transgaz Makhachkala): Good evening, Mr Putin. My name is Kerim Guseinov, I am director general of Gazprom Transgaz Makhachkala. As regards the regime of gas supply in the Republic of Dagestan, I can say that Gazprom today pumps 34.5 million cubic metres of gas into the pipeline system and Azerbaijan provides 1.8 million cubic metres. Out of that amount we feed 9-9.5 million cubic metres to the Chechen Republic and the rest remains in our republic. The republic needs 21.5 million cubic metres, so the need is fully met. Some reserves are being accumulated in the gas transport system.

Vladimir Putin: Hang on. I’ll ask Viktor Basargin to check again on all the communities and to report back together with the republican leader.

Viktor Basargin: Yes, Mr Putin.

Vladimir Putin: Magomedsalam Magomedov, do you have any other problems?

Magomedsalam Magomedov: We also have, of course, the situation with agriculture because the republic has not experienced such cold in the last hundred years. We have crops that thrive in heat, mainly grapevines, and they have been damaged and that may affect the future harvest. On other issues, for example, the wintering of cattle, no problems have arisen. I think that in general we will weather this period.

Vladimir Putin: All right. Thank you, Magomedsalam Magomedov. I’ll now come back to the problems of disaster relief. Thank you.

Igor Saburov (addressing Igor Saburov, deputy governor of the Murmansk Region). Murmansk Region, please.

Igor Saburov: Good evening, Mr Putin, colleagues. On the whole, the situation in the Murmansk Region as regards basic needs is fairly stable even though the low temperatures are anomalous even for us. However, there is the situation in the village of Alakurtti, Murmansk Region where the boiler room, which is on the balance books of the Defence Ministry, stopped operating because of an accident at 6 am on February 5. As a result the piping in residential quarters of the 5^th and 21^st military compounds burst. As a result, 21 apartment blocks where 2,240 residents live have been left without central heating. Action has been taken to move 891 people to vacant housing units, and 735 people have moved in with their relatives and friends, 618 people have stayed in their flats – that’s where they have stoves in their kitchens, which makes it possible to maintain normal conditions. Emergency rescue and restoration work is under way at all these sites.    

The emergency teams sent by the Murmansk Region government have already relaunched the heating supply standpipes in seven entrances of three apartment blocks in Compound 21. In Compound 5 work to restore heat supply to residential houses started only today because specialists were not available (Slavyanka company). Within 24 hours the Emergencies Ministry and Defence Ministry delivered all the necessary equipment by air and by road. A plan of rescue and relief work and schedules of monitoring progress have been developed. All in all, 430 people and 51 units of equipment are engaged in cleaning up the aftermath of the accident. Work is going on round the clock. Law and order are ensured, property is protected and staple supplies are available. All the issues have been solved, including food supply.

At this point all the external heating networks have been restored, that is, heating is fed to the houses and only indoor networks are being repaired. Already the radiators and standpipes are being replaced. In Compound 21, which is home to residents of the village of Alakurtti who are under municipal jurisdiction, work is scheduled to be completed by 9 am on February 12, and in Compound 5 (Slavyanka) by 9 am on February 18.

The Murmansk Region government has provided all the necessary camp beds, mattresses, pillows and bed linen. I would like to note, Mr Putin, that the Murmansk Region government repeatedly appealed to various authorities, including the Defence Ministry, alerting them to the unsatisfactory preparation for the autumn and winter season of the housing and utilities infrastructure on the balance sheet of the Defence Ministry.  That concludes my report. Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Where are the people affected, almost 2,500?

Igor Saburov: Eight hundred and ninety one people have been relocated to vacant housing units, 735 have moved in with their relatives and friends, and 618 people have stayed in their flats… The thing is that these houses have fire stoves in their kitchens. The compound was built to house a military garrison, and so they can maintain normal temperatures and live in these flats.

Vladimir Putin: What’s the outdoor temperature there?

Igor Saburov: Minus 22 degrees.

Vladimir Putin: Did you go there yourself?

Igor Saburov:  Yes. We have permanent headquarters there, and deputy head of the emergency response commission, Minister Mikichura (Murmansk Region Minister of Energy, Housing and Utilities), Deputy Governor Sherechecha (Acting Deputy Governor of the Murmansk Region) and Lieutenant-General Dagirov.

Vladimir Putin: So there are people on the ground who see what is happening and are authorised to take decisions?

Igor Saburov: Absolutely correct. We wanted to give you the whole picture, but there is a technical snag. They are standing by to report.

Vladimir Putin: I think we see the picture. Dagirov, please.

Shamsutdin Dagirov: Comrade Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. This is General Dagirov, Chief of the North-Western Regional Centre of the Russian Emergencies Ministry reporting. In addition to what the deputy governor of the Murmansk Region has said, as of today indoor heating systems are being repaired and radiators are being replaced. A total of 1521 radiators are due to be replaced, we have 1597 radiators available and 700 radiators are due to be delivered from Murmansk at 11 pm. I would like to stress that in the houses built in 1974-1975 two of the four boilers are operating, one is on standby and one is being overhauled. So, during this time we managed to restart the boilers and to replace all three pumps. From that point of view there are no problems with heat supply in the network. That concludes my report.

Vladimir Putin: Can you tell me what agencies are supervising this work. Who specifically is doing it?

Shamsutdin Dagirov: In Compound 21, which is on the balance sheet of the Alakurtti municipality, the government of the Murmansk Region is supervising the work. All the specialists, welders and plumbers have come from Murmansk and also from Kandalaksha. In Compound 5, which is on the books of the Defence Ministry, the work is being conducted by the joint stock company Slavyanka with which the Defence Ministry has a contract to service its facilities (Director General Alexander Yelkin is by my side.)

Vladimir Putin: This then is the result of the outsourcing the Defence Ministry is introducing. We all expected that it would improve matters. Dmitry Bulgakov, who at your ministry is directly in charge of preparing Defence Ministry facilities, including the residential stock, for the winter season?

Dmitry Bulgakov (Deputy Defence Minister of the Russian Federation): Pursuant to the defence minister’s order the unit responsible is the state customer for capital construction and utilities maintenance department.

Vladimir Putin: That’s not what I mean. Which of the deputy ministers?

Dmitry Bulgakov: Of the defence minister’s deputies at present it is Georgy Kuznetsov, and formerly it was Deputy Minister Naginsky who was appointed the head of Spetsstroy company today.

Vladimir Putin: That’s how he has prepared for the winter?

Dmitry Bulgakov: The defence minister has ordered an inquiry into the situation in that compound and it is being conducted now, two deputy commanders of the Northern Fleet are working there together.

Vladimir Putin: But we talked with the minister in advance and I alerted him to the need to prepare for the winter carefully because there were some slip-ups last year. They said, “Yes, yes, we know, we’ll take care of that.” Where are the results of their efforts?

Dmitry Bulgakov: Apparently the officials responsible were derelict, Mr Putin.

Vladimir Putin: I want you to take note of the fact that preparation for the winter was not satisfactory. What else can you say if 2,500 people have been left without heating in minus 20 degree weather? Now the region and the federal government have to pitch in to rectify the situation and rescue people. Is that normal?  

I would like to ask all the heads of services – community services, rescue services, and healthcare services – to keep a close eye on the situation. The related ministries, agencies, heads of regions should be at their place of work. Judging by the forecasts, the cold spell will last, with the situation possibly getting worse. That is why everyone should remain in place. We must form the necessary reserves of repair and maintenance teams, in accordance with the plan. Everything needs to run as smoothly as possible.

Please check that all the vital infrastructure systems are ready, paying particular attention to the key facilities: schools, kindergartens, hospitals, boiler stations, and water supply intakes. Please keep your full attention focussed on these matters. I am asking the heads of the regions, please prepare your proposals and requests about what additional measures should be taken to restore housing and infrastructure facilities, and provide help, where needed, for individual enterprises, such as the agricultural enterprise in Dagestan. The Emergencies Ministry, together with colleagues, needs to consider these proposals as soon as possible and submit them to the government, so that we can make a prompt decision and give our support to the regions.

Our absolute priority must be the people who are experiencing hardship as a result of the extreme weather. I am asking you both to control the situation and to keep the government updated. Thank you. That’s all.