The centre, which has federal status, provides a service to many hundreds of children, who go there to rest and learn.

Earlier in the day, Vladimir Putin told a meeting in Vladivostok that the government would grant 133 million roubles to the centre towards its renovation. "The document has already been signed," the prime minister told the centre's director, who explained that this additional funding would help them build a second building in June 2010 and a third by December 2010, creating 200 additional places.

Mr Putin promised that the federal government would continue supporting Ocean in its development. The centre's top managers said that, if funding continued, the number of children resident there would grow 2.2 times by 2012 and that Ocean would be able to accommodate 17,500 children per year. At present around 600 children are visiting Ocean to study and rest, and in summer this rises to around 1,000.

The prime minister inspected one of Ocean's buildings, its "bunkroom", where the children sleep, and talked to some of the children who have won various Olympiads and other school competitions.

Mr Putin presented Ocean with the equipment needed to kit out its computer room with broadband Internet access.