Donetsk, Jan 11 — DAN. The new Russian regions must be included in national projects as quickly as possible, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Cabinet officials on Wednesday.

“We’ve already talked about it, and I want to emphasize once again that it is necessary to involve the Federation’s new constituent entities in the implementation of national projects. It means, among other things, that funding must be secured for national projects to be implemented in the DPR, LPR and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, ” the Kremlin website quoted Putin as saying.

The government is already working on it, and this work must be completed as soon as possible, he said. The president said that the indicators for assessing the new regions’ development must be set for this year.

“I mean uniform and transparent criteria of work not only for regional and municipal bodies, but also federal government bodies, so that colleagues at the local level jointly with the government, ministries and departments can concentrate their efforts and resources on priority tracks that require foremost attention, ” the head of state said.

Russia has been developing various strategic development concepts and programs since the 2000s. In 2006, it launched the first four national projects focused on public health, housing, education and agriculture. Fourteen projects are currently being implemented in the fields of healthcare, demography, sport, culture, small and medium business support, ecology, housing and urban environment, research, tourism, education, road construction etc.*jk