Vladimir Putin called on participants in the meeting on flood management in the Irkutsk Region and the Far East to relate to the ongoing reconstruction work with "soul and heart."

“If we do not work with heart and soul, there will be no final positive result,” the president said, opening the meeting. He noted that we are talking about people who are in trouble.

“And you need to start from this, you need to keep in mind that people have lost, maybe everything that made up their small accumulations over their entire lives. And it’s clear that they count on our help with you, ”the head of the Russian state said.

The meeting addressed issues related to payments to victims, construction and overhaul of housing, the state of social facilities, transport infrastructure and preparations for winter. Presentations were made, in particular, by Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko and Minister of Construction Vladimir Yakushev. Governor of the Irkutsk region Sergey Levchenko spoke in a video conference mode.

Recall that the flood in the Irkutsk region and the Far East began due to heavy rains in June 2019. According to September data, 137 settlements remained flooded in the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region. The list of victims was more than 45 thousand people. 25 people were killed, six were missing.

In early October, Putin instructed to develop measures to hold officials accountable, who untimely warn the population about an emergency or the possibility of its occurrence. According to the decree of the head of state, the document should be ready by March 1, 2020.

During the meeting, the President expressed the hope that all funds allocated by the state to eliminate the consequences of the disaster will reach the addressees.

“I hope that there will be no more information that the funds came, but to the performers or to the citizens who are entitled to receive certain benefits, this money does not reach,” Putin said, noting that the state has allocated significant funds.

However, the president criticized the pace of issuing certificates for home repairs. He drew attention to the fact that only 50% of certificates for a major overhaul were issued. He also pointed out that there are comments on the quality of the restoration of educational institutions and some other buildings.

“1362 certificates for overhaul were issued, which is only 50% of the total,” the head of state said.

“Sergey Georgievich, why so little?” The president asked the Governor of the Irkutsk region, Sergey Levchenko.

He urged officials to approach the issue of solving the problems of residents affected by the flood "beyond the framework of decisions."

“Of course, appeals are possible from people who, perhaps, within the framework of the decisions taken and the current law, are not entitled to support and assistance in connection with flooding, but they would not contact us if they had everything, as in the people they say, "in chocolate." This means that people have problems, ”the president said.

Putin called on officials to look at the situation broader and “see what can be done.”

“I ask you to approach this not formally, but to work it out as it should be in such state structures that treat people with a soul; not within the framework of decisions made on this natural disaster, but beyond this framework. Just see what can be done and do it, ”the president emphasized.

Payments and Housing

In turn, Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, speaking on the reconstruction process, said that flood victims in the Irkutsk region were paid 2.5 billion rubles.

“In total, 2.58 billion rubles were paid. These are practically all the resources that we have allocated, they have been brought to the attention of citizens, ”RIA Novosti quoted him as saying. Mutko specified that 8138 applications of citizens to restore their rights were examined in an expedited manner. The courts still have 218 applications that are pending, the Deputy Prime Minister added.

According to Mutko, the government will allocate additional funds for the restoration of housing in the region.

“The government has decided to allocate 14.7 billion rubles from the reserve fund ... now it is already exceeded by 1 billion. In the near future, the government will decide on additional allocation of money in order to satisfy all requests,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying. .

He specified that in all settlements of the Irkutsk region, the supply of water, heat and energy was restored.

“Almost everything is connected in a permanent circuit,” Mutko said. He also said that public transport was working and new buses had been purchased.

In turn, the Irkutsk governor Sergei Levchenko said that everyone who lost it as a result of the flood will receive new housing. This will not be taken into account if the family has other housing.

“It was decided, let’s say, not to pay attention to the second housing. Therefore, we are now every family that lost their homes due to flooding, regardless of the second, third, larger housing - they will receive, absolutely everyone will receive ... apartments, ”said Levchenko.

At the end of the meeting, Putin called for work to eliminate the consequences of the flood actively regardless of the upcoming holidays.

“Let’s not put it off, do not look at the various holidays approaching there, but work as the situation requires, and as people who live in these territories expect from us,” the president said.

Following the results of the work, the head of state intends to check the quality of their implementation.

“The situation in the regions affected by the flood should be better, maybe better and will definitely be better. After finishing the work, I will definitely check what the result is, ”Putin concluded.